His & Hers’ uneven tone undermines Netflix thriller

Time wrote that Netflix's crime thriller His & Hers, starring Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal and created by William Oldroyd, falters because it cannot settle on a consistent tone. The six-episode series, adapted from an Alice Feeney novel and relocated from the U.K. to Georgia, pairs estranged spouses who suspect each other of murdering a woman they both knew.

The show offers a cinematic pedigree and an echo of Mr. & Mrs. Smith in its mix of sex, violence and mistrust, but Oldroyd’s direction is at once arch and grim, leaving the series unable to work as either black comedy or poignant drama. The premiere leans on fake-outs and heavy revelations—Anna (Tessa Thompson) appearing frantic in a hoodie before returning to a TV anchor role held by Lexy (Rebecca Rittenhouse); Jack (Jon Bernthal), a detective who finds a body outside Dahlonega; and histories with the victim, Rachel Hopkins (Jamie Tisdale).

Critics singled out soap-operatic flourishes (an opening shot of Rachel in a blood-soaked white dress on a red car), a subplot about Anna’s mother Alice (Crystal Fox) with dementia, and the use of sexual assault as character motivation as especially problematic. Reviewers say the show is watchable but empty, pointing to lazy dialogue—lines like “The killer could be with us in this very room” and “You heard it here first”—and a series of unhinged twists that read as mean-spirited rather than playful.

Key Topics

Culture, His & Hers, Tessa Thompson, Jon Bernthal, William Oldroyd, Alice Feeney