Real-life serial killers have always been a popular subject for movies and TV series. Most people hold a fascination for these multi-murderers and are interested in their personality, background and modus operandi. When the timeline of the crimes is such that many of the victims’ families are still alive, the filmmakers have to be highly sensitive to this point and walk a very thin line between providing quality entertainment and being respectful to the memory of the victims. This requires a well-researched and finely written screenplay, sensitive direction and high caliber acting. All these attributes are evident in Netflix’s new 8-part miniseries The Serpent.
The subject matter in The Serpent is Charles Sobhraj, one of the cruelest, shrewdest, and most cold-blooded serial killers in recent history. Sobhraj had an Indian father, Vietnamese mother and was raised in France. He travelled widely and while in Bangkok, struck up a relationship with Marie, a French-Canadian girl. Together, with an Indian accomplice called Ajay, they would target backpackers in Thailand. Sobhraj’s MO was to seem very friendly towards his intended victims and often offer them help and assistance and even a room at the guesthouse where he was staying. He had an extensive knowledge of various drugs and poisons and would dose the drinks of his victims with lethal mixtures of these drugs. He would then place his own and Marie’s photos on the passports of the couples whom they murdered and cash their travellers checks and make sojourns out of Bangkok to create the illusion that the victims had left the country, thus removing any suspicion from him and his accomplices. The disappearance of a Dutch couple in Bangkok led to a junior diplomat, Knippenberg to pursue their case and start a cat and mouse chase between himself and Sobhraj.
Though The Serpent doesn’t delve deep into the psychological reasons for Sobhraj’s behaviour, there are plenty of clues in Sobhraj’s conversations with Marie, his mother and Ajay. Because of his Indian/Vietnamese heritage, he always felt as an outsider and was bullied at school. With his victims he felt a sense of power and dominance over them. The money he obtained from them also enabled him to enjoy a lifestyle which he had envied in rich people. Sobhraj also had an urge for self-promotion and being loved and adored by others.
As with any real-life serial killer movie, a sense of dread prevails throughout the series as Sobhraj targets new victims. We get the urge to tell the would-be victim to get the hell out of the country but have to sit and watch helplessly as another lamb goes to the slaughter. We also cannot wait to see Sobhraj getting nailed by the authorities and getting his just deserts. The Serpent directors, Hans Herbots and Tom Shankland, and the series’ writers, Richard Warlow and Toby Finlay have heightened this sense of dread and despair by starting the series with an interview with Sobhraj, conducted in 1997, where he is very relaxed and all beaming and smiles while telling the interviewer that legally he cannot be tried again for any of the crimes attributed to him. Ever. This also has the effect of viewers wanting to binge-watch the series to find out about the eventual fate of this notorious murderer; akin to having the urge to go to the last pages of a whodunnit to know the denouement. In this particular case of course one can consult Google and find out all about Sobhraj. The continuous shifting of the timeline and locations relating to the events, which include Thailand, India, Nepal and France, works in the films favour and prevents any lagging in the pacing of the story.
Throughout the history of cinema serial killers have provided juicy and often unforgettable roles for actors, in some cases a career defining role, usually outshining the “hero” of the film. Examples include Peter Lorre in M (1931), Anthony Perkins in Psycho (1960), Rod Steiger in No Way to Treat a Lady (1968), Tony Curtis in The Boston Strangler (1968), Richard Attenborough in 10 Rillington Place (1971), Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Kevin Spacey in Seven (1995), to name a few. Tahar Rahim, who came into prominence with A Prophet (2009), solidified is credentials with The Past (2013) and was nominated this year for a BAFTA and Golden Globe for The Mauritanian (2021), is a sure bet to take his place among the aforementioned actors. He is absolutely compelling as Sobhraj. His calm manner is at once both genial and terrifying. His acting is extremely well controlled, devoid of any emotion, exhibiting an exterior of cool, calm and gentleness, while at the same time making us feel his inner satanic character, utterly convincing us of his lack of compassion for his victims. There have of course been some actors who were either reluctant to portray serial killers or the public wouldn’t accept them as such; the likes of James Stewart, Cary Grant and Tom Hanks, to name a few.
Casting is one of the strong points of The Serpent. Every role seems tailor-made for the actor playing it. Billy Howle is very affecting as the Dutch diplomat Knippenberg, skillfully displaying both his nervousness – the Dutch Ambassador was totally against him taking an active role in any criminal investigation and Knippenberg had to conduct his investigations surreptitiously – and his doggedness and resolve in pursuing and apprehending Sobhraj. Jenna Coleman is also excellent as Marie, Sobhraj’s lover and accomplice. At different times, we feel both revulsion and pity for her. The veteran British actor Tim McInnerny and French actress Mathilde Warnier are other standouts in the cast.
© 2021. UniversalCinema Mag.