Spy media has been languishing in a post-Killing Eve/Night Manager/Skyfall slump. And The Day of the Jackal is perhaps the greatest thing the genre has produced in years.
Peacock and Sky’s thrilling new drama stars Eddie Redmayne as the eponymous Jackal — a professional killer that’s equal parts cold-blooded and emotionally vulnerable — and appropriates all the suave glamour and competence porn of Bond for its off-kilter hunt.
A redux of the 1971 Fredrick Forsyth novel and its subsequent film adaptations, Redmayne’s Jackal exists in a universe where espionage has evolved beyond explosive pens and shoe phones.
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After a record-breaking, long-distance assassination in Munich, he finds himself in the crosshairs of the morally flexible MI6 operative Bianca (007 alum Lashana Lynch). One that has zero compunctions about getting in the mud with the dogs and torturing someone if it brings her closer to her goal.
The only semblance of stable morality appears in the form of Nuria (Ursula Corbero), the Jackal’s unwitting wife. But when curiosity gets the best of her, she too is thrust into a dangerous world informed by bespoke rifles, timed explosives, prosthetic disguises, and intelligence leaks.
The real star of the show is the mercurial Eddie Redmayne, who we haven’t seen on screen since The Good Nurse and the Fantastic Beasts franchise; and has been since Emcee-ing on Broadway’s Cabaret.
Organically flicking between a precise killer who headshots witnesses without hesitation and a peekaboo-playing father, we can’t help but wonder if the crazed Berlin Emcee helped train some of his more manic moments.
A nod must be also given to costume director, Natalie Humphries, for styling Redmayne in suede blousons and linen shirts; subverting the “assassin dresses like anyone” trope, and dressing the magnetic fugitive in classic luxuries reserved for Bond-like secret agents.
The visual dialogue of this alone helps distinguish the series from its contemporaries, painting the Jackal as an assassin with his own aesthetic values beyond the functional crafts of blending in or seduction.
As touched upon earlier, it’s a great post-modern reinterpretation of the 70s thriller — no longer are actions inherently good or evil, everything’s grey in a landscape of constant surveillance, information streams, and anonymity among the masses.
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We cannot over-emphasise how delightfully entertaining the tensions are: despite the Jackal’s meticulous planning, arguably the highest thrills come from when things go spectacularly wrong.
From the opening second to the credits, our attention is held captive by elite marksmanship, MI6 politicking, and million-dollar assassination contracts. And as the imminent threat of apprehension draws closer and closer, we’re torn between rooting for both cat and mouse in this turbo-paced equation.
So what do you get when you mix an inquisitive wife, an enigmatic sharpshooter, and a by-any-means-necessary spy? A damn good show, and the best part is… we’re only halfway through.
The Day of the Jackal is now streaming via Binge here in Australia.
