Entertainment Review: Sirens

If a door opens, will I not walk through it? a young woman asks her outraged sister who is berating her for doing something morally wrong.

Sirens, a five-part mini series (on Netflix) created by Molly Smith Metzler based on her own play Elemeno Pea, is a wonderfully cast dramedy which could be seen as a simpler, more intimate version of the satirical series The White Lotus, that lampooned the self-absorbed lives of the wealthy.

Devon (Meghann Fahy, who also starred in TWL), comes home one morning after a rough night, to find a large basket of edible fruit on her doorstep. The extravagant gift is from her sister Simone (Milly Alcock), who had taken off, leaving Devon to care for their father Bruce (Bill Camp), suffering from dementia. Simone cuts off all communication with her family, and, as it turns out, she doesn’t want their indigent shadow to fall on her luxurious new life.

In a rage, Devon sets out on a 17-hour journey to the island, where her sister is located.  Unable to even pay the cab fare to the sister’s address, she walks to the grand Cliff House, to find Simone completely in thrall to her charmingly tyrannical boss, Mikaela (Julianne Moore).

Mikaela runs a wildlife conservation organisation; like the wild birds she looks after, she treats Simone like one of her pets. In her slavish loyalty to Mikaela, Simone is not even aware that the rest of the staff hates and mocks her behind her back.

The estate is preparing for the annual gala, when Devon’s drama and other crises disturb the calm of the tasteful mansion and the manicured lawns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxSpZ9khchU

Devon sees what her sister had become, is concerned about her affair with Ethan (Glen Howerton), the wealthy friend of Peter (Kevin Bacon), Mikaela’s husband, and her mental wellbeing in those surroundings. Peter does not realize that he is unhappy in his marriage with the overbearing Mikaela, till he is attracted to the overeager to please Simone.

Bruce arrives with Devon’s boss and lover Ray (Josh Segarra), the neglectful father, who now needs his daughters’ care. Observing all the emotional chaos is the family’s faithful retainer, Jose (Felix Solis).

The lush seaside surroundings, the opulence of the mansion, the art, fashion, gourmet foods belie the insecurity and pettiness of Mikaela, who has barely held on to her humanity.

The glacial beauty of Julianne Moore and the intensity of her performance in an unsympathetic role, anchors Sirens to that fragile world of aspiration, greed and desire. Devon, the woman who seems the most practical of the lot, is also the most vulnerable to heartbreak and exploitation; also possibly the only one with the strength to bear disappointment and betrayal. Sirens is the watchable story of these three women, and their own little tragedies, that lead to a long-delayed self-awareness.