Stay Close (Harlan Coben series) – Netflix Review

STAY CLOSE on Netflix is a new Harlan Coben miniseries. A crime, thriller, mystery with eight episodes. If you’ve enjoyed the previous adaptions of his novels, then you’ll like this one. Read our full Stay Close series review here!

STAY CLOSE is a new Netflix series adapted from a Harlan Coben novel. There have already been quite a few of these thriller-mystery series in various languages.

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I’ve enjoyed all of the previous adaptions (to varying degrees) and I can’t imagine any fans of the previous adaptions won’t find this one entertaining.

Continue reading our Stay Close mini-series review below. All eight episodes of the series are out on Netflix now.

Another strong cast

One thing the Netflix adaptions of Harlan Coben books tend to have in common are strong casts. Stay Close is definitely no exception. Neither are the international productions which you should really check out. Especially the Polish adaption The Woods is worth checking out.

Getting back to the cast of Stay Close, it’s headlined by three actors portraying the three main characters we end up following. Or rather, we are ultimately following the story, of course, but through the experiences of three different characters; A soccer mom, a photojournalist, and a homicide detective.

The definitive main character is portrayed by Cush Jumbo (The Good Fight, Torchwood). She’s the current soccer mom with the past of a “showgirl” (or stripper, to be plain). This means she also has a new name now but used to go by “Cassie”.

The photojournalist is played by Richard Armitage who many might know from The Hobbit trilogy. However, genre fans might also recognize him from The Stranger, Space Sweepers, the horror movie The Lodge (2019), and the TV series Hannibal.

Finally, the homicide detective is played by James Nesbitt. He was also in the Hobbit trilogy and has played a detective in a whole slew of awesome crime series. From The Missing to Bloodlands and he is currently filming Suspect.

All three main actors give solid performances. I found Cush Jumbo a bit tame (or boring) at first, but there was a point to this.

Watch the Stay Close miniseries on Netflix now!

While the novel this Netflix series is based on was written by Harlan Coben, the scripts for the series were written by Daniel Brocklehurst and Lawrence Kasdan. Both have very interesting backgrounds which are obvious from just a quick look at their IMDb pages.

Daniel Brocklehurst previously wrote on the Harlan Coben series The Stranger (which also starred Richard Armitage) and Safe. The latter starred Michael C. Hall of Dexter. Speaking of everyone’s favorite serial killer, make sure you check out Dexter: New Blood which is airing these weeks.

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The other writer, Lawrence Kasdan, has a different, but very interesting resume. Mostly consisting of Star Wars productions. In fact, Lawrence Kasdan’s screenwriting debut was The Empire Strikes Back (1980) followed up by the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

Later, Lawrence Kasdan went on to write the screenplay for The Bodyguard (1992) which is definitely a more relevant reference for this new Netflix series. As with all Harlan Coben series, this one is good fun, full of twists and turns, plus most episodes end on cliffhangers. Do check it out!

Stay Close is out on Netflix from December 31, 2021.

Details

Writers: Daniel Brocklehurst, Lawrence Kasdan, Harlan Coben (novel)
Directors: Lindy Heymann, Daniel O’Hara
Stars: Cush Jumbo, James Nesbitt, Richard Armitage, Sarah Parish, Eddie Izzard, Rod Hunt, Jo Joyner