Saint X – Hulu Series Review

SAINT X on Hulu is a new murder-mystery series based on the book by Alexis Schaitkin. Alycia Debnam-Carey stars in the present story, while the series plays out across three different decades. There are eight episodes to the series. Read our Saint X series review here!

SAINT X is a new Hulu series with eight episodes. The murder mystery plays out across multiple timelines and one of the timelines even does a whole lot of back and forth within itself. Sound a little too complex?! Well, it both is and isn’t as there are clues as to where in the timeline, we are. However, it doesn’t help the story much either.

The cast in this series is quite intriguing and full of people that are either decidedly charming or kind of enjoy being douchebags. Okay, there are also some people that are just somewhere in between. Just like in real life, I suppose.

The downfall of this series – and I’m sorry to say that there is one – has nothing to do with the characters, but rather the length. Eight episodes just feel like way too much. Then again, I still haven’t watched the entire series, so I can’t be sure, but it definitely evolves slower than I’d prefer up until the halfway mark.

Continue reading our Saint X series review below. Find it on Hulu in the US from April 26, 2023. Outside the US, it will be on Disney+ from June 7, 2023.

We crave answers!

This murder-mystery story is based on the book of the same title. And a little fair warning could be that the book has an ending that is notorious for not being very popular due to a lack of definitive answers. Whether this series will do the same remains to be seen.

For the record, I can also appreciate the whole “art imitating life” as we know all too well that you can never get all the answers. As curious human beings, we have a need to understand. We simply must know the answers to the “what”, “how” and “why”. But in reality, we rarely get all the answers.

Which is actually where the story focuses with Emily (Alycia Debnam-Carey). Emily is a young woman, who has just moved in with her boyfriend and is working as a documentary editor. However, she’s also someone who lost her sister during a family vacation at a resort many years ago.

Having never truly gotten all the answers she craved – and not necessarily believing the ones she got – she sets out to uncover the truth. Or, I mean, that’s the idea but after the first three episodes, she’s still just quite a mess.

A murder mystery across many timelines

At its core, Saint X is about the mysterious death of a young woman. A death that creates a traumatic ripple effect across decades. And one that pulls her surviving sister into the definitive pursuit of the truth before she herself can move on.

In the series, we follow Emily (Alycia Debnam-Carey), who desperately wants to find out what happened to her sister. This need for answers becomes impossible to ignore she sees one of the men initially arrested after her sister disappeared.

This is also why the series is told via multiple timelines. One timeline is the present, another is at the resort where Alison (West Duchovny) disappears and her body is later discovered. Finally, we follow the man who is arrested (and whom Emily later sees back in the US) as he is growing up.

Having these three timelines actually works well. One could argue that constantly showing all three timelines in each episode might be a bit much, but it does work. To a point.

However, in order for us to understand both Emily’s present life and the life of accused killer Clive Richardson (Josh Bonzie) before the young American woman goes missing, the actual disappearance story is quite jumbled. That story takes place during an idyllic Caribbean vacation which ends with Alison’s body being found and Clive getting arrested.

But while the vacation ends this way, the story told about these events does jump back and forth a lot. Too much for my liking. Especially since it seems to be mostly to draw parallels to the other timelines. This could’ve been done better. Stronger!

Watch Saint X on Hulu now (and Disney+ internationally later)

Leila Gerstein is the creator of this series. Previously, Leila Gerstein wrote on series such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Cursed. Also, she was the creator of Hart of Dixie. The writers on this Hulu series are Cynthia Adarkwa, Jeff Augustin, Nina Braddock, Matthew Cruz, and Natasha M. Hall.

The episodes in the series are directed by Darren Grant and Dee Rees. The latter also being an executive producer along with creator Leila Gerstein and the book author Alexis Schaitkin.

Saint X is based on the book by Alexis Schaitkin, which was a debut novel. It received high praise from such giants as The New York Times and People Magazine. However, while many readers enjoyed it, the ending is one that has become much debated. It will be interesting to see how the ending is treated in this adaption. You’ll just have to wait and see!

Saint X will premiere on Hulu in the US with three episodes on April 26, 2023. Weekly episode releases will continue through May 31. The series will also be on Disney+ outside the US from June 7, 2023.

Details

Creator: Leila Gerstein
Directors: Darren Grant, Dee Rees
Cast: Alycia Debnam-Carey, Jayden Jean Paul-Denis, Melissa Juliet Lawson, Kenlee Townsend, Hani Furstenberg, Tricia Paoluccio, West Duchovny, Kosha Patel, Cynthia Guzmán, Jermel Wilson, Johnny Sanchez, Adam DeCarlo, Colin Kilkenny