Ripley is an American neo-noir psychological thriller miniseries created, written and directed by Steven Zaillian, based on Patricia Highsmith's 1955 crime novel The Talented Mr. Ripley. Starring Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf, the eight-episode limited series is the first adaptation of Highsmith's novel to a series.
Ripley was set to air on Showtime, but in February 2023 the series was moved to Netflix. It premiered on April 4, 2024, and received critical praise for its writing, directing, craftsmanship, and performances, particularly for Scott as Tom Ripley. At the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, it received 14 nominations, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series and acting nods for Scott and Fanning, and won four, including Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Zaillian. The series also won a Peabody Award.
Premise In New York in 1961, Tom Ripley is a down-at-heel con-man. Unaware of his situation, a wealthy man hires him to convince his prodigal son to return home from Italy. But Tom's introduction to Dickie Greenleaf's comfortable and leisurely life abroad turns out to be "the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder".
Cast Main Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf Eliot Sumner as Freddie Miles Margherita Buy as Signorina Buffi, Ripley's landlady Maurizio Lombardi as Inspector Pietro Ravini
Guest Kenneth Lonergan as Herbert Greenleaf Ann Cusack as Emily Greenleaf Bokeem Woodbine as Alvin McCarron Vittorio Viviani as Matteo Louis Hofmann as Max Yoder Fisher Stevens as Edward T. Cavanagh John Malkovich as Reeves Minot
Episodes
Production Development
On September 25, 2019, it was announced that Andrew Scott had been cast as Tom Ripley in Ripley, a television series to be adapted from Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels. A series order of eight episodes was commissioned by Showtime, to be written and directed by Steven Zaillian, who pitched the series to the network. He explained that adapting the material as a series rather than a feature film "allowed me to be more faithful to the story, tone, and subtleties of Highsmith's work. [I] tried to approach my adaptation in a way I imagined she might herself." Zaillian serves as executive producer alongside Garrett Basch, Guymon Casady, Ben Forkner, Sharon Levy, and Philipp Keel, with Scott as a producer. The series was co-produced by Showtime and Endemol Shine North America in association with Entertainment 360 and Filmrights. Though designed as a limited series, further seasons are a possibility.
Casting The casting of Scott as Tom Ripley was announced in September 2019. Johnny Flynn was cast as Dickie Greenleaf in January 2020, and in March 2021, Dakota Fanning was cast as Marge Sherwood. Eliot Sumner joined the cast in a recurring role in December 2021. John Malkovich, who portrayed Ripley in the 2002 film Ripley's Game, was cast as Reeves Minot, a supporting character in Highsmith's later Ripley novels.
Scott said of his portrayal, "You don't play the opinions, the previous attitudes that people might have about Tom Ripley ... I have to have the courage to create our own version and my own understanding of the character ... It was a heavy part to play. I found it mentally and physically really hard". He described understanding what Ripley does as "arduous", explaining, "Certain things I can understand, but other things—it's actually the blankness that's sometimes hard to engage with."
Filming Shooting was planned to begin in Italy in September 2020, but was later delayed to 2021 due to COVID-19. Robert Elswit was the cinematographer of all eight episodes, and shot with Arri Alexa LF digital cameras. Ripley is presented in black and white. The only things shown in color in the series are the red bloody paw prints of a cat on the steps at the end of episode 5. Zaillian explained, "The edition of the Ripley book I had on my desk had an evocative black-and-white photograph on the cover. As I was writing, I held that image in my mind. Black and white fits this story—and it's gorgeous."
Release Ripley was initially announced to be broadcast on Showtime, but in February 2023, Deadline Hollywood reported that the series would be moving to Netflix. It was released on April 4, 2024.
Reception Audience viewership Ripley debuted at number six on Netflix's Top 10 TV English titles for the tracking week of 1-7 April 2024 with 16.9 million hours viewed. On the following week, it remained at the same position and garnered 18.4 million viewing hours.
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 86% approval rating with an average rating of 8.0/10, based on 136critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Bathed in opulent black and white with a reptilian Andrew Scott holding the screen hostage, Steven Zaillian's sumptuous reinterpretation of Ripley draws fresh blood from Patricia Highsmith's insidious social climber." On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Matt Schimkowitz of The A.V. Club gave the series an A− and said, "The fun of Ripley is always in how he gets away with his crimes, and Zaillian doesn't forget that." Reviewing the series for The Mercury News, Randy Myers gave a rating of 3.5/4 and commented, "While some might be put off by Ripleys measured tempo and its detached icicle of a protagonist, noir fans won't be and will admire how effectively it revives an often overworked genre." Linda Holmes of NPR described the series as "A meticulously built piece of filmmaking that references classic noir and Hitchcock as well as Italian cinema greats, and just looking at it shot by shot is a profound pleasure." Judy Berman of Time wrote, "Scott... may be more than two decades older than his character as conceived by Highsmith (he doesn't look it) but has nonetheless given us the first definitive onscreen Ripley."
Accolades Award Date of ceremony Category Nominee(s) Result Ref. Gotham TV Awards June 4, 2024 Breakthrough Limited Series Ripley Outstanding Performance in a Limited Series Andrew Scott TCA Awards July 12, 2024 Program of the Year Ripley Outstanding Achievement in Drama Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials Outstanding New Program Individual Achievement in Drama Andrew Scott Set Decorators Society of America Awards August 5, 2024 Best Achievement in Décor/Design of a Television Movie or Limited Series Alessandra Querzola, David Gropman Dorian TV Awards August 12, 2024 Best TV Movie or MiniseriesRipley Most Visually Striking TV Show Best TV Performance – Drama Andrew Scott Astra TV Awards December 8, 2024 Best Limited Series Ripley Best Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie Andrew Scott Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie Dakota Fanning Best Directing in a Limited Series or TV Movie Steven Zaillian Primetime Emmy Awards September 15, 2024 Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series Steven Zaillian, Garrett Basch, Clayton Townsend, Guymon Casady, Benjamin Forkner, Philipp Keel, Sharon Levy, Charlie Corwin, Ben Rosenblatt, Enzo Sisti, and Andrew Scott Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Andrew Scott Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Dakota Fanning Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Steven Zaillian Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards September 8, 2024 Outstanding Casting for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Avy Kaufman, Francesco Vedovati, and Barbari Giordani Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Robert Elswit Outstanding Period Costumes Maurizio Millenotti, Gianni Casalnuovo, Ernest Camilleri, Teresa D'Arienzo, and Francesco Morabito Outstanding Picture Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Joshua Raymond Lee and David O. Rogers Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More) David Gropman, Karen Schulz Gropman, Alex Santucci, and Alessandra Querzola Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special Larry Zipf, Michael Feuser, Michael McMenomy, Lidia Tamplenizza, David Forshee, Bill R. Dean, Wyatt Sprague, Angelo Palazzo, Matt Haasch, Igor Nikolic, Dan Evans Farkas, Ben Schor, Jay Peck, and Sandra Fox Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Michael Barry, Larry Zipf, Maurizio Argentieri, and Michael Perfitt Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode John Bowers, Jason Tsang, Joseph Servodio, Maricel Pagulayan, Christopher White, Libby Hazell, Francois Sugny, Gaia Bussolati, and Pepe Valencia Golden Globe Awards January 5, 2025 Best Limited or Anthology Series or TV Film Ripley Best Actor - Miniseries or TV Film Andrew Scott Best Supporting Actress - TV Dakota Fanning Satellite AwardsJanuary 26, 2025 Best Miniseries & Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Ripley Best Actor in a Miniseries, Limited Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television Andrew Scott British Society of Cinematographers Awards February 1, 2025 Best Cinematography in a Television Drama (International/Streaming) Robert Elswit Saturn Awards February 2, 2025 Best Television Presentation Ripley Costume Designers Guild Awards February 6, 2025 Excellence in Period Television Maurizio Millenotti and Gianni Casalnuovo Critics Choice Awards February 7, 2025 Best Limited Series Ripley Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television Andrew Scott Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television Dakota Fanning Directors Guild of America Awards February 8, 2025 Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV Film Steven Zaillian Artios Awards February 12, 2025 Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Limited Series Avy Kaufman, Scotty Anderson, Francesco Vedovati, Barbara Giordani Writers Guild of America Awards February 15, 2025 Limited Series Steven Zaillian Cinema Audio Society Awards February 22, 2025 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Non-Theatrical Motion Pictures or Limited Series Maurizio Argentieri, Michael Barry, Larry Zipf, Michael Perfitt, Scott Cannizzaro, Matthew Kay Independent Spirit Awards February 22, 2025 Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series Andrew Scott Golden Reel Awards February 23, 2025 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Broadcast Long Form Dialogue and ADR Michael Feuser, Lawrence Zipf, Lidia Tamplenizza, Michael McMenomy Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Broadcast Long Form Effects and Foley Michael Feuser, Lawrence Zipf, Bill R. Dean, Angelo Palazzo, Igor Nikolic, David Forshee, Wyatt Sprague, Matt Haasch, Sandra Fox, Steve Hammond, Goro Koyama, Andy Malcolm, Jay Peck Outstanding Achievement in Music Editing – Broadcast Long Form Dan Evans Farkas, Ben Schor Screen Actors Guild Awards February 23, 2025 Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Andrew Scott American Cinema Editors Awards March 14, 2025 Best Edited Limited Series Joshua Raymond Lee and David O. Rogers Peabody Awards May 1, 2025 Entertainment Showtime and Endemol Shine North America in association with Entertainment 360 and Filmrights for Netflix
References
External links