Anatomy of a Scandal – Netflix Series Review

ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL on Netflix is a new thriller series based on a book by Sarah Vaughan. The story is intense and delivered perfectly by phenomenal performances by the cast. Sienna Miller and Michelle Dockery are brilliant. Read our full Anatomy of a Scandal series review here!

ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL is a new Netflix thriller series in six episodes. Each is one hour long and you can expect to want to binge-watch this. Each episode ends on some sort of cliffhanger, so you’ll want to keep watching. You might guess a few twists and turns along the way, but really, it doesn’t take anything away from enjoying this series.

Especially because all of the actors deliver amazing performances. Sienna Miller and Michelle Dockery, in particular, are absolutely brilliant. We’ve watched all six episodes in the series for this review. I didn’t even want it to end though I did enjoy the ending – even if it was, perhaps, a little too neat. Sometimes, you just want this to have a classic ending, so I can easily live with that.

Continue reading our Anatomy of a Scandal series review below and find all six episodes on Netflix from April 15, 2022.

Watch it for Sienna Miller and Michelle Dockery

Look, the story alone is plenty of reason to watch Anatomy of a Scandal. However, from episode 1, the two performances that begin to stand out are Sienna Miller (Factory Girl) and Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey, Defending Jacob).

This continues throughout the series where especially Sienna Miller absolutely blew my mind. I’ve always liked her, but in this role, she was scary good in her intensity – shown both as anger and restraint.

Later on, the same goes for Michelle Dockery’s character. Sienna Miller plays the wife of a politician caught up in a scandal about an affair (which evolves) and Michelle Dockery is a prosecutor.

The woman at the center of this scandal is portrayed by Naomi Scott (Charlie’s Angels, Power Rangers), who also makes a big impression in a very positive way. She isn’t in that much of the series (in terms of screen time), but her character is extremely important as a catalyst.

I can’t help but think that there is a lot of personal experience to draw on for Sienna Miller. In case you forgot (or missed it entirely), Sienna Miller and Jude Law were together on/off over a few years. Part of their relationship in the public eye was focused on the infidelity by Jude Law with his children’s nanny.

So yeah, there are definitely some personal parallels to draw on there!

Storytelling through amazing editing

Aside from the amazing performances, the editing of Anatomy of a Scandal is another highlight of watching this Netflix series. You’ll notice that when someone is being put on the witness stand and describing an event, we see their memory of the event and then cut directly back into the court scene.

It could very easily be a weird and “cheap” trick, but it is utilized so damn well in this case!

In ways, it feels like breaking the fourth wall because we smoothly go from a past memory to seeing someone talking about this memory. We’re in their heads, as we would be if someone talked directly to us by looking into the camera. You’ll see what I mean and experience it in many different ways throughout this limited series.

I loved the way this was done and it certainly kept me 110% invested.

Watch Anatomy of a Scandal on Netflix!

Anatomy of a Scandal is based on the book by Sarah Vaughan with David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, Mr. Mercedes, Nine Perfect Strangers) and Melissa James Gibson (House of Cards, The Americans) as the creators of the series. They both write and executive produce this Netflix mini-series.

MORE BY CREATOR DAVID E. KELLEY

Be sure to check out the HBO mini-series The Undoing >

All episodes are directed by S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, Dexter). She is also an executive producer and having one director on all episodes feels absolutely right for this limited series. Just as it worked really well for The Undoing which was directed by Susanne Bier (Bird Box).

Anyone who enjoys a good character-driven mystery should enjoy this new Netflix series. Especially thanks to absolutely breathtaking performances by Sienna Miller and Michelle Dockery. Any scenes featuring either were just brilliant. And that says a lot since the entire cast delivered awesome performances.

All six episodes of Anatomy of a Scandal are out on Netflix on April 15, 2022.

Details

Creators / Writers / Executive Producers: David E. Kelley & Melissa James Gibson
Director: S.J. Clarkson
Cast: Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery, Rupert Friend, Naomi Scott, Josette Simon, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Joshua McGuire