The acclaimed 2020 novel "Saint X" by Alexis Schaitkin has boiling depth beneath its calm surface, much like the crystal-clear seas of the Caribbean island where it is set. Because a young American girl's death serves as the story's catalyst and her body washes up on the coast during those tropical tides, "Saint X" initially cuts the figure of a thriller. Yes, the novel gradually reveals the circumstances around her premature death. The focus of the narrative, however, is on the survivors' long-term struggle with grief, guilt, and obsession rather than what actually occurred. It is a trauma meditation that is laced with societal commentary and presented as a banal "imperilled woman" beach read.
The fact that "Saint X" on Hulu sticks closely to its source material turns out to be both a blessing and a curse. The show also makes a few hints about whodunit before building to a complex, albeit unsatisfying, denouement. Given how well-crafted it is both a psychological thriller and a character study, that is especially disheartening. Anyone weary enough of mysteries to have given up attachment to the final reveal will adapt to the series just well, as will those who were prepared for the bait-and-switch by reading the novel. However, people who go to "Saint X" expecting a more straightforward story can leave before it captivates them.
The programme alternates between two narratives that take place 20 years apart. A wealthy family travels to Saint X, a Caribbean island that is roughly modelled on Aruba, in the past for a vacation. The Thomas family consists of Bill (Michael Park), Mia (Betsy Brandt), Alison (West Duchovny), their awkward younger sister Claire (Kenlee Anaya Townsend), and Bill's wife Mia. The older Thomases spend their days relaxing and drinking rum punch while Claire broods in silence and Alison mocks them for being out-of-touch capitalists. Only three of the Thomas family members return home because Alison vanishes and is later discovered dead. Naturally, suspicion is directed towards the last two individuals she was seen with, Gogo (Josh Bonzie) and Edwin (Jayden Elijah), two staff members from the upscale resort.
Twenty years later, Claire is now known as Emily (Alycia Debnam-Carey), lives in a Brooklyn neighbourhood with a high Caribbean population, and works as a documentary editor. The loss of Alison left her family never totally healed, and Emily is tortured by fleeting flashes of a crucial experience she can hardly recall. But a stroke of luck brings her face to face with a tired Gogo who has since moved to New York City and is now known by his birth name, Clive, and her fragile balancing act comes apart. Emily discovers a concrete connection to her sister's passing in Clive, a person who may provide her with the answers she believes will lessen her suffering. Emily starts a frantic game of cat-and-mouse with Clive after her.
Leila Gerstein, the show's creator, does a remarkable job of condensing the novel's intricate ideas into eight episodes. Race and class relations play a role in the novel's events, just like they did in the true incident that served as its inspiration—the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway while on vacation in Aruba. The Thomas family has access to resources that the staff members taking care of their needs would never have. Gogo and Edwin, two Black guys charged with the rape and murder of an American white girl, already have a major disadvantage due to their privilege. The initial logline for the programme compared it to "The White Lotus" and "Gone Girl." Though accurate, that description falls short of expressing how oppressively weighty "Saint X" may be.
"Saint X" provides a spectacular stage for the quartet of young performers that anchor it, if little else. Its structure is based on two unconventional love triangles: Emily and Clive in the present and Edwin and Alison in the past. These connections provide a powerful throughline in a novel that constantly runs the risk of being lost in a web of flashbacks and forward leaps. "Saint X" would be lost without the outstanding performances by Bonzie, Debnam-Carey, Duchovny, and Elijah. Bonzie earns the majority of the credit because she is one of the few cast members to portray the same role in both eras. As the resentful, tired Clive and the idealistic and naive Gogo, he provides two equally great performances.
By the time its eight episodes were over, "Saint X" had looked into the price of obsession and the effects of trauma. It has gradually developed into an impactful examination of LGBT identity, which has been a most welcome surprise. (This novel's enlarged plot line is comparable to "Pariah," written and directed by Dee Rees, who also oversaw the first "Saint X" episode.) What it hasn't done is satisfactorily answer the questions surrounding Alison's death for those looking for the quick excitement of a crime story. Please come for the murder, but stay for the mystery.
On April 26, "Saint X"'s first three episodes made their online debut on Hulu. Since then, fresh episodes have been released every week.
