--- title: "The Undoing" year: 2020 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-undoing" fi1m_score: 61 critics_score: 62 critics_reviews: 13 published: "2026-09-17T13:20:43.558850+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T13:20:44.084648+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Undoing (2020) Created by David E. Kelley · 1h 00m · MPA TV-MA · Drama, Crime, Mystery **Fi1m score: 61** · Critics 62 from 13 reviews *In a sentence:* Six hours of Nicole Kidman walking through cold streets in a long coat, wondering whether her husband did it > Susanne Bier and David E. Kelley dress a slim whodunnit in cashmere and cold light and stretch it across six hours. Hugh Grant is the best reason to stay; the script gives everyone else one note and asks them to hold it. ## Synopsis New York. Grace Fraser (Nicole Kidman) is a therapist married to Jonathan (Hugh Grant); their son Henry (Noah Jupe) attends the school where Grace sits on the auction committee with Sylvia Steinetz (Lily Rabe). A new mother arrives: Elena Alves (Matilda De Angelis), whose son Miguel (Edan Alexander) is a scholarship pupil, who attaches herself to Grace at the committee table, in the gym changing room, in a lift. The morning after the auction Elena is found dead in her studio, Jonathan is not answering his phone, and detectives Joe Mendoza (Édgar Ramírez) and Paul O’Rourke (Michael Devine) arrive at the Frasers’ door. Grace’s father, Franklin Reinhart (Donald Sutherland), watches from his flat. ## Review David E. Kelley’s six-part adaptation of Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel asks one question and keeps asking it for six hours: did Jonathan Fraser kill the woman found dead the morning after the school auction? The trouble is what the series does while it waits, which is mostly to send Nicole Kidman out into a cold New York and film her walking. *The Undoing* is handsome, well acted and stretched thin, and it is best taken quickly, before the thinness shows. The first episode is the strongest hour. Elena Alves (Matilda De Angelis) walks into a meeting of the school auction committee and feeds her baby while the other women decide how to feel about it, and De Angelis plays her as somebody who has come to look at Grace, not the auction. She turns up in the gym changing room, undressed and unembarrassed. She gets into a lift with Grace and kisses her on the mouth. Anthony Dod Mantle shoots these encounters through glass and across rooms, so we are never sure who is watching whom, and it made our skin prickle as the later, louder episodes never do. Then Hugh Grant arrives and the series has its reason to exist. Jonathan is the man everyone likes, and a little too pleased about it, and Grant plays him with the whole kit of his old romantic leads, the stammer, the tilted head, the self-deprecating joke, now used by a man who knows how well it works. Here the charm is under suspicion from the first scene, and watching him switch it on in a police interview room is the most uncomfortable pleasure the series offers. Every scene he is in, we leaned forward; every scene he is out of, we noticed the furniture. The furniture is good. Lester Cohen gives the Frasers a townhouse of dark wood and books, and Grace’s father Franklin (Donald Sutherland) a flat so large the city outside looks like a window display. Signe Sejlund puts Kidman in long coats, a green velvet one above all, and they became the thing we most looked forward to, which is not a compliment to the writing. Sacha and Evgueni Galperine’s score is plucked strings and a low pulse, sparing enough to be welcome. Kidman herself is the problem the series does not solve. Grace is a therapist who did not see what was in front of her, and Kidman plays that as one long stare for six hours. Kelley’s script gives her questions to ask and a coat to wear and little else; whenever the plot needs her to do something a sensible woman would not, she does it. Noah Jupe, as Henry, gives the more honest performance, a boy watching his parents and learning things a child should not, and the series keeps forgetting he is there. Sofie Gråbøl’s prosecutor is underused; Édgar Ramírez’s detective exists to be clever on cue. By the fourth hour we were irritated. The middle episodes exist to keep the question open, so each turns up a new suspect or a hidden fact, and Ben Lester cuts every one to end on the reveal, so the story is a run of cliffhangers with not much between them. The courtroom stretch is competently staged and about as surprising as courtroom stretches tend to be. Money is raised as a theme, the scholarship boy, the family across the city, and then set down again, because a whodunnit has other business. Kelley and Kidman made [*Big Little Lies*](https://film.one/tv/big-little-lies) (2017) together, and that series had a dozen people to care about and a murder as an afterthought. *The Undoing* has the murder and Hugh Grant. Bier’s [*The Night Manager*](https://film.one/tv/the-night-manager) (2016) showed how much she could do with a glossy thriller when the script kept up with her; here she is directing the pause between clues. Watch it in pairs of episodes and it plays as what it is: a decent feature-length thriller with an excellent Hugh Grant, spread across six episodes of about an hour. It carries an 18 certificate. Take the coats as compensation. *Fi1m score 61, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like The Undoing, and they like the same things. Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman carry almost every review: Grant for turning his rom-com charm into something slippery, Kidman for holding the centre while the marriage comes apart. Susanne Bier’s direction gets steady credit for pace, cliffhangers and a cold, glossy Manhattan, and several reviews admit to being hooked whether or not they think the show earns it. The reservations cluster on the writing. Even admirers call it familiar, and the mixed reviews say David E Kelley raises questions about wealth and privilege and then drops them for thriller mechanics. The Independent and The Ringer both measure it against Big Little Lies and find it a lesser echo. The spread is wide: solid fours at the top, a middle that calls it watchable rather than gripping, and one dismissal from The Hollywood Reporter, which finds only a feature film’s worth of story stretched thin. ### Reviews we read (13) - **Radio Times** (4/5): The series is a highly entertaining and competently made crime drama with a compelling mystery, despite the distracting casting of major stars. It plays it safe with familiar plot devices but delivers solid television. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/the-undoing-review-sky-atlantic/) - **The Guardian** (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the stellar performances of Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman in this gripping thriller about a wealthy couple unraveling after a murder. Director Susanne Bier and writer David E Kelley are noted for their portraits of privileged lives in freefall. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/26/the-undoing-review-hugh-grant-and-nicole-kidman-start-to-unravel) - **The Times** (75/100, inferred): The critic finds themselves hooked on this glossy drama exposing the dark underbelly of privilege, praising Hugh Grant's charismatic performance as the suspect husband alongside strong supporting turns. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/the-undoing-review-the-dark-underbelly-of-privilege-im-hooked-bhvn5rp06) - **The i Paper**, Emily Baker (70/100, inferred): The series offers a detailed and often vulgar portrayal of New York's elite, with strong performances from Kidman and Grant anchoring the central couple. It builds tension effectively through domestic scenes and twists in the murder mystery. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/the-undoing-review-sky-atlantic-hbo-nicole-kidman-hugh-grant-738576) - **Vulture** (70/100, inferred): The critic describes a chilly, prestige-suspense thriller with fine acting, moody atmosphere, and a seductive mystery that pulls viewers in despite its frigid tone and limited depth on class and character interiority. It notes the show has potential to be more substantive but still offers engaging escapism set in pre-pandemic New York. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2020/10/the-undoing-on-hbo-review.html) - **Empire**, Ian Freer (50/100, inferred): The Undoing is an always watchable murder mystery with strong direction and performances, but it never becomes fully gripping or reaches the level suggested by the talent involved. It is engaging rather than engrossing, with Kelley’s scheming keeping viewers guessing. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/the-undoing/) - **The Independent**, Ed Cumming (50/100, inferred): The critic notes that Grant and Kidman deliver reliably but finds the series struggles to reconcile its sharp satirical elements with the demands of a conventional thriller, lacking the distinctive voice of Big Little Lies. [Read](https://independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-undoing-review-hugh-grant-nicole-kidman-hbo-b1344933.html) - **Variety**, Caroline Framke (50/100, inferred): The series is ably acted and handsomely made, with Bier’s direction effective in psychological thriller moments and Kidman delivering a strong performance. It raises interesting issues of privilege but ultimately glosses over them and devolves into clichés. [Read](https://variety.com/2020/tv/reviews/the-undoing-review-nicole-kidman-hugh-grant-1234799230/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Inkoo Kang (10/100, inferred): The show is limp, generic and dispiritingly bad despite the talent involved, with only enough story for a feature film and a glacially paced, frustratingly scattered narrative. It is one of the most disappointing shows of the year. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/the-undoing-tv-review-4074993/) - **Collider**, Jeff Sneider (B+): The series is described as addictive yet a tad predictable, with strong performances from Kidman and Grant and effective direction by Bier. It is a worthy prestige limited series entry despite some familiar tropes. [Read](https://collider.com/the-undoing-review-hbo-nicole-kidman-hugh-grant/) - **Den of Geek**, Rosie Fletcher (4/5): The critic calls it a glossy, addictive mystery with strong performances from the all-star cast and effective direction by Susanne Bier that delivers pace and edge. It singles out the satisfying escapism of watching privileged elites toppled and the compelling grip-lit structure with frequent cliffhangers. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-undoing-review-classy-thriller-with-an-all-star-cast/) - **NME**, Dan Seddon (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it a must-watch miniseries with compelling leads in Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. Susanne Bier's direction turns New York into an icy gothic landscape, aided by strong supporting turns and playful original music. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/tv-reviews/the-undoing-review-2786029) - **The Ringer**, Alison Herman (45/100, inferred): The Undoing is a derivative and underwhelming echo of Big Little Lies that fails to deliver an absorbing story or tonal payoff despite its high-profile cast and director. The critic singles out Hugh Grant’s deconstruction of his rom-com persona for praise amid the show’s dour self-seriousness and slow pacing. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2020/10/27/tv/hbo-the-undoing-review-nicole-kidman-hugh-grant) ## Details - **Created by:** David E. Kelley - **Creator:** David E. Kelley - **Director:** Susanne Bier - **Writer:** David E. Kelley - **Novel:** Jean Hanff Korelitz - **Cinematography:** Anthony Dod Mantle - **Editor:** Ben Lester - **Music:** Sacha Galperine, Evgueni Galperine - **Production design:** Lester Cohen - **Costume design:** Signe Sejlund - **Producer:** Deb Dyer - **Cast:** Nicole Kidman as Grace Fraser; Hugh Grant as Jonathan Fraser; Édgar Ramírez as Joe Mendoza; Noah Jupe as Henry Fraser; Lily Rabe as Sylvia Steinetz; Matilda De Angelis as Elena Alves; Ismael Cruz Cordova as Fernando Alves; Edan Alexander as Miguel Alves - **Runtime:** 1h 00m - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 25 October 2020 - **Genres:** Drama, Crime, Mystery - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqeQVi1nPqs ## Where to watch in the US - HBO Max: streaming, uhd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Hulu: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Apple TV: buy, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IS, IT, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Big Little Lies* (2017), Fi1m 78: Kelley and Kidman’s earlier collaboration, with more people worth caring about and a better murder. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/big-little-lies.md) - *A Very English Scandal* (2018): Hugh Grant’s first great turn as a charmer you should not trust, and funnier. - *Gone Girl* (2014), Fi1m 84: The marriage-as-crime-scene thriller done with real nerve, in a tidy two and a half hours. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/gone-girl.md) - *The Killing* (2007): Sofie Gråbøl in a jumper, solving one murder over twenty patient, rain-soaked Danish hours. - *Presumed Innocent* (1990), Fi1m 82: Harrison Ford as the respectable man in the dock, and a courtroom that earns its twists. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/presumed-innocent.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. 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