Source: Radio New Zealand
Set in Chicago – though filmed mostly in Melbourne (more on that later) – All Her Fault immediately pulls us into the tension.
Sarah Snook (Shiv in Succession), stars as Melissa Irving, a successful wealth manager whose life unravels in the opening minutes when she discovers her 5-year-old son Milo has been taken. Snook is brilliant as always – you can feel her panic and simmering rage.
We follow the police investigation and Melissa’s own discoveries, suspecting various family members and friends across eight tightly-wound episodes. Her husband Peter is played by Jake Lacy (Shane from season one of The White Lotus), who nails his portrayal of another entitled man.
There are three main threads that will keep you hooked. The spine of the series is the missing child mystery, complete with steady revelations and clever misdirection which keeps us guessing until the very end.
The second thread is the upper middle-class affluence. The characters inhabit stunning, large, minimalist homes and employ nannies. This privilege doesn’t shield them from judgment or tragedy, which brings us to the third theme of the story: the weight of motherhood.
This is where the title comes in. Melissa is vilified by the media, accused of complicity in her son’s disappearance, mainly because she’s a working mother. Another key player, Jenny (Dakota Fanning), a publishing executive and fellow mum, becomes entangled after discovering her nanny is involved in Milo’s disappearance. All Her Fault doesn’t fall into the trope of pitting these women against each other, instead it’s a welcome relief that they have each other’s backs.
If you know Chicago or Melbourne, here’s where the illusion falters. Lake Michigan’s shores don’t resemble St Kilda’s yellow sand, and the waves look more ocean than lake.
Some scenes were shot in Chicago, but it feels like they added filters to the brighter Australian environment. If I was from Chicago, I’d be pretty unhappy having my city faked in this way.
Then there’s the array of Australian actors (all nailing their American accents). It makes the series feel slightly dislocated – but definitely not enough to derail the drama.
Don’t watch if … location trickery triggers you.
The Beast in Me: Psychological thriller starring Matthew Rhys (the Americans) and Clare Danes (Netflix).
Playing Nice : Psychological thriller starring James Norton (Happy Valley) and Niamh Algar (Raised by Wolves) about two families whose lives implode after they discover their children were swapped at birth (3 Now).
Dark Winds: A gripping US crime thriller set in the 1970s in Navajo country in the US Southwest (Netflix).
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
