The following is a spoiler-free review of Netflix's What/If.
Contemplating a binge watch of Netflix's What/If this weekend? Rest assured, your interest in the most melodramatic television event since ABC's Revenge is not misplaced.
Outrageous and juicy, the 10-hour limited series from Revenge creator Mike Kelley is jam-packed with betrayals, agreements, twists, turns, and (sexy) surprises. The soapy series will bait you into soaking up every minute of its ludicrous self-indulgence — delivering just enough real-world bite to leave you wanting that next episode.
Starring Renée Zellweger as evil venture capitalist Anne Montgomery, What/If is essentially a gender-swapped, serialized version of the 1993 film Indecent Proposal.
Lisa and Sean Donovan, played by Jane Levy and Blake Jenner, are a happily married but financially limited couple. Struggling to get their respective dreams of running a successful medical startup and joining the San Francisco Fire Department off the ground, the Donovans begin the series hopelessly out of options.
Enter Anne. She's willing to give Lisa the $80 million dollars she needs to kickstart her company, but only if Jane is willing to give Anne one night alone with Sean. Gasp!
According to Netflix, what follows is a "neo-noir social thriller" that explores "what happens when acceptable people start doing unacceptable things." According to me, what follows is an impeccably crafted soap opera, with less self-awareness (and notably fewer surgical mesh PSAs) than its daytime competitors.
Serious. Shadowy. Sexy. Stupid.
Image: Ray Mickshaw/Netflix
Playing out the majority of its dramatic twists with deadpan sincerity, this world is serious about its stakes, and it wants nothing more than to have you along for the whole ride. What/If makes big moves early and often. Should you start to lose your investment, there are helpful signs posted at practically every intersection where your emotions might wander. Orchestral swells tell you when to cry. Shadowy confessions tell you when to gasp. Romantic embraces tell you when to swoon.
Cast members similarly slide into their assigned soapy stereotypes with commitment. Levy embodies her mousy-turned-ballsy underdog role, right down to the power bangs. Jenner takes his trophy husband/dreamboat part at face value, not even beginning to overthink it.
And then there's Zellweger. An Academy Award winner with a massive year ahead of her, Zellweger can't help but act circles around her co-stars — even when saddled with the series' worst dialogue and most ludicrous plot points. (Only an exceptional artist can make CEO vs. CEO fencing, indoor archery lessons, and the planning of an event called "the détente" seem genuinely consequential.)
All in all, What/If isn't an excellent bit of television, but it is an excellent soap. If you're into that kind of thing, then you're in for a hell of a weekend.
And if you're not into that kind of thing? Just imagine... What/If you were?
What/If is streaming on Netflix now.
