The Girl In Cabin 10 has lots occurring, and but it’s a tightly written movie that doesn’t overstay its welcome or depend on its thriller dragging out to maintain us hooked. It is aware of its viewers, is aware of it’s straightforward to develop bored with watching Laura, or Lo as folks name her (Keira Knightley) — an investigative journalist who’s been tasked with overlaying the maiden voyage of a luxurious yacht — be gaslit by each character within the movie earlier than needing to maneuver on.
Primarily based on the novel of the identical title by Ruth Ware, The Girl in Cabin 10, directed by Simon Stone, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, may have simply develop into a cliché, nevertheless it holds regular in its psychological thriller parts, staying grounded due to Knightley’s Lo, who was traumatized watching a girl killed by drowning after she agreed to talk together with her for her final main exposé. Lo is a workaholic, as her editor (Gugu Mbatha-Uncooked) basically scolds her for, nevertheless it isn’t her sole attribute.
In some methods, Lo’s want for work acts as avoidance, nevertheless it additionally lays the groundwork for probably disbelieving what she sees later, when a mysterious and unaccounted-for lady goes overboard. Perhaps Lo’s been working too onerous; possibly she’s simply too traumatized by seeing one other lady die once more. However these are primarily questions for the suspicious wealthy elite aboard the ship, who’ve all been invited in honor of Anne Bullmer (Lisa Loven Congsley), who has stage 4 most cancers and whose husband, Richard (Man Pearce), is throwing a gala for Anne and the inspiration earlier than she dies.
The story leans onerous into the psychological facets, although its thrills aren’t so pulse-pounding as they’re often gasp-worthy.
Although suspicious of rich, highly effective folks usually, Lo finds herself drawn into their world and even sympathetic to Anne, who requested her presence aboard the yacht. However as soon as the title character is thrown overboard, Lo’s transient second of letting her guard down with the company — an ensemble forged together with Kaya Scodelario, Hannah Waddingham, Daniel Ings, and David Ajala, who performs Ben, a photographer and Lo’s ex — is over as she begins investigating what precisely occurred to this mysterious lady everybody claims was by no means there.
The Girl In Cabin 10 Retains Us Hooked By Not Going Overboard
The movie, at somewhat over an hour and a half, by no means feels rushed. We get the gist of who Lo is and, although the story may be very a lot in regards to the thriller, it’s additionally a narrative of redemption for Lo, who appears like a failure after her contact was killed regardless of getting the story out. Whereas different types of media are likely to considerably glamorize the wealthy, The Girl in Cabin 10 holds them at arm’s size. They every have their quirks and personalities, however the story isn’t about them in the end; it’s about discovering the reality.
At one level, Scodelario’s character tells Lo that she’s principally a buzzkill, somebody whose penchant for the reality is ruining what was speculated to be time. In a single sentence, the film highlights the absurdity of such thought and mirrors our actual world. Why cease the get together to care about others or study the reality if it means placing a wrench within the enjoyable? The movie treats journalism with a seriousness and idealism that’s generally solely present in films, however Lo’s have to uncover what the highly effective don’t need her to know is admirable, and we root for her each step of the best way.
The story leans onerous into the psychological facets, although its thrills aren’t so pulse-pounding as they’re often gasp-worthy. Knightley as Lo is outstanding, layering her efficiency with a way of exhaustion, dread, suspicion, and perseverance. Her discomfort with Richard and Anne’s associates is on the spot, and her physique language is at all times on edge, as if able to grill them or flee at any second.
The truth that she doesn’t slot in is just not performed for laughs, nevertheless it’s baked into the narrative to offer us a way of how totally different she is from these folks; Lo even overdresses for a dinner that will get her feedback and additional underscores that she is just not of this world however a key a part of unraveling it.
As quickly as we begin rising bored with the psychological sport the characters are enjoying, a serious secret is revealed that drives the remainder of the story to an explosive however not so over-the-top conclusion. In some ways, the movie is hopeful regardless of the horrible issues that occur; the concept that the reality will by some means prevail is optimistic however, at the least right here, not so misguided that it dangers making The Girl in Cabin 10 so unbelievable.
Visually, the movie is coloured in steely grays, too-pristine, and dimly lit hallways. The yacht, in some cases, feels extra like a jail that Lo can’t escape. And but the movie doesn’t dawdle, with Simon Stone using each inch of the house to create a way of claustrophobic depth and a sense of at all times being watched.
And whereas the movie may have definitely targeted a bit extra on Lo’s relationship with Ben — which is a contact underwritten, particularly with how this performs into the top — it nonetheless works on nearly each degree. Even when it will get so near changing into repetitive, it shifts gears, permitting the narrative, and us because the viewers, to refocus. From the opening scenes, The Girl in Cabin 10 hooks us and doesn’t let go.
And whereas I can’t examine it to the guide it’s primarily based on, the movie principally and efficiently pulls off an intriguing psychological thriller that will get proper to the purpose, leaving the frills behind to inform a tense and interesting story.
- Launch Date
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October 10, 2025
- Director
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Simon Stone
- Writers
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Anna Waterhouse, Joe Shrapnel, Simon Stone, Ruth Ware
- Producers
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Debra Hayward, Cindy Holland, Elisabeth Murdoch