Summer Streamin' 25 - Disclaimer (stylised as DISCLAIMER*) - Miniseries

Disclaimer (stylised as DISCLAIMER*) is one Apple TV+ title I missed late last year. With Shrinking, Bad Sisters and Silo all streaming week-to-week, it was hard to keep up with everything. Including this Golden Globe (and now SAG) nominated miniseries.

This R rated psychological/thriller miniseries written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, is based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Renée Knight. 

Starring former STC royalty and queen, Cate Blanchett as a documentarian who is forced to confront her past, and Kevin Kline as the father of a boy who died in Italy 20 years earlier. 

Also starring in this all star cast, Borat, I mean Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Louis Partridge, Leila George, Lesley Manville & features Indira Varma as the narrator.

So what is DISCLAIMER* all about? Catherine Ravenscroft (Blanchett), a famed documentary journalist, discovers she is a prominent character in a novel that purports to reveal a secret she has tried to keep hidden. Catherine built her reputation revealing the misdeeds and transgressions of others. When she receives a novel from an unknown author, she is horrified to realise she is now the main character in a story that exposes her darkest secrets.

As Catherine races to uncover the writer’s true identity, she is forced to confront her past before it destroys both her own life and her relationships with her husband Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen) and their son Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee)

The story is revealed in a non-linear fashion with scenes alternating between a holiday in Italy (young Catherine’s encounter with Jonathan and his subsequent death by drowning) and back home in London twenty years later (the truth emerges, the consequences). 

The series also uses the technique of unreliable narrator in that the events in Italy are told twice: first from Nancy's speculative point of view and later from Catherine's first person experience. Leading to a monster conclusion in episode seven. Watch out spoilers below the trailer. 

In the seventh and final episode, Catherine reveals to Stephen that Jonathan broke into her hotel room, held her at knifepoint, forced her to pose for his photos, then repeatedly raped her before leaving. 

The next day, Jonathan did indeed drown saving Nicholas; Catherine had collected physical evidence of her rape, but got rid of it after Jonathan died, wanting her memory of the experience to die with him. As Catherine finishes her story, she realizes that Stephen has drugged her tea and collapses; Stephen then returns to the hospital to kill Nicholas, but relents when he awakens and calls for his mother. 

Stephen, finally accepting what Catherine told him, informs Robert, who is overcome with guilt. Catherine awakens and rushes to the hospital where she reunites with her family. 

In the aftermath, Stephen burns all the copies of The Perfect Stranger, Jonathan's photos, and Nancy's belongings, while contemplating suicide. He discovers that one of the photos shows young Nicholas witnessing his mother's rape. 

Unable to forgive Robert for what she’s been through, Catherine chooses to divorce him, and later reconciles with Nicholas.

This is seriously good TV. It also continues Apple's brilliant run of titles in late 2024. It was a stellar year for Apple with Shrinking, this and Bad Sisters all becoming big and bigger hits! This year Severance finally returns, Silo will conclude it's second season and one can only hope The Morning Show finally returns.

Apple TV+ is really leading the charge when it comes to quality over quantity (looking at you Netflix) content. Brilliant work!