Bad Sisters follows the story of the Garvey Sisters as they plot to kill their brother-in-law, John Paul, in order to save their sister, Grace, from an abusive marriage. The series is now streaming on Apple TV+.
Story
A recently widowed Grace mourns the death of her husband, John Paul Wiliams, while her sisters celebrate their victory over him.
JP, as in John Paul, was an abusive husband who despised his wife and often blamed her as the one at fault for not giving her best towards the family.
Apart from that, JP himself wasn’t a popular figure in the neighborhood, as everyone, including Grace’s sisters, hated him for his antics.
JP’s ugly behavior towards his wife and her sisters got to a point where the sisters thought of killing him once and for all.
Half-brothers Matthew and Thomas Claffin, from an insurance agency that is supposed to pay off JP’s insurance to Grace, suspect the circumstances around JP’s death.
In order to save themselves from paying, they conduct an investigation that could uncover the truth behind this and answer whether the Garvey sisters were really responsible for JP’s death or not.
Performances
Sharon Horgan has written the characters so tight and well, the actors easily fill in for them. Each one of the actresses playing the sisters comes up with a performance that speaks out their traits loudly.
Let it be Sharon Horgan’s Eva, who is a mother figure to all the other sisters, or Eva Birthistle’s Ursula, a nurse who juggles between her job and family.
Then we have the chaotic and punk sisters, Bibi and Becka, played by Sarah Greene and Eve Hewson.
Anne-Marie Duff as Grace has the ability to make viewers resonate with what her character is going through in an abusive marriage and how, despite all of that, she wants to make her husband happy.
These characters are not really perfect, as they have their own dark secrets. The cast portrays them well and articulates why these characters opted for the decisions they did.
Claes Bang should be appreciated in the role of John Paul Wiliams. The only job Bang had was to make sure that the viewers hate him to the point where they wish the sisters would kill him right away, though it might not be a sensible move.
Bang fulfills his purpose, but there are times when his antics come across as over.
Positives
The show tends to balance its comedic as well as its dark nature properly. Both genres fit in with the story presented and the way it has been written.
Though the show comes with a set of total 10 episodes, with the very first few ones clearly suggesting that the viewers won’t find out what happened to JP until the finale, it was never draggy.
Each and every attempt to kill JP featured in the show has its own thrill. The viewers learn a lot about the characters through these attempts and the premise built around them.
The mystery that the show possesses is kept intact well towards the very end. Especially because there are a number of surprising elements that the characters as well as the viewers discover that keep the story afloat.
Negatives
The planning and plotting that the sisters discuss for killing JP sometimes come out as very silly, until it’s put to execution.
Though the creators have tried to give each and every sister’s story some importance, there are times when some of them take a backseat and are not that compelling enough.
Verdict
Bad Sisters is certainly a thrilling ride that encapsulates both the comedy and thriller genres well, with the whodunit kept aside, and how it all went down being the more important question.
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