If I was feeling down on my luck, and a glamorous Eve Myles sauntered into my life with a cup of coffee, a motivational speech and a dream job, I would feel like I’d won the lottery. So it’s hardly surprising that, as BBC’s new domestic thriller The Guest kicks off, downtrodden Ria (Gabrielle Creevy) feels the same way.
Fired from her job as a cleaner by a housewife whose family don’t know how to flush a loo, Ria finds herself at a loss. Living in a sublet flat with her loving but lazy and unemployed boyfriend Lee (Sion Daniel Young), Ria has accepted her fate as someone who muddles through life, even though her smarts and character make her beloved by friends who all want more for her.
When the cash-strapped 20-something gets in a barney with a power-hungry security guard for stealing tins out of a supermarket donation bin, she finds a guardian angel in middle-class Fran (Myles) – whose blonde hair and general aura oozes money, entitlement, and success. Taking pity on Ria, and in need of a cleaner anyway, Fran offers her a trial shift at her mansion. Thus begins their whirlwind friendship.
Myles’s Fran oozes money, entitlement, and success (Photo: BBC/Quay Street Productions/Jake Morley)Soon, Fran and Ria are chatting like old buds over sushi, sharing their traumas, and planning to work together long term. Fran encourages Ria to dump her fella, sign up to a dating app and declares: “You’re so used to crumbs Ria, take the whole f***ing loaf!”
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But alas, this is a thriller, with the ominous tagline “Don’t let her in” and a kindly gardener warning Ria not to get too close to Fran suggests all is not as it seems. The guessing game at this stage is which woman should we be more wary of?
The two lead actors excel in being simultaneously warm and untrustworthy. Ria has a full life but little money, while Fran is living in luxury with her own lifestyle business, but a husband who disappears abroad at the drop of a hat.
Over the course of the first episode, toxic habits form quickly with jump scares abound as Ria integrates herself into Fran’s world at speed. Ditching longtime mate Sharla and leaving her feckless boyfriend playing his Playstation, Ria even uses her new employer’s job, personality and clothes to woo a potential new suitor on a dating app Fran recommended. In this new world, she can be the successful, life-affirmed business woman she’s always dreamed of.
Ria integrates herself into Fran’s world of luxury (Photo: BBC/Quay Street Productions/Simon Ridgway)But Fran is all too eager to encourage this side of Ria, offering up her jewellery and dressing her up like her own personal Barbie doll. When Ria asks why she’s being so nice, she admits feeling sorry for her, but sees her value. It doesn’t sound entirely selfless, especially after Ria catches her having an affair with her married business partner, Richard, but it feels earnest. Fran’s lonely, and Ria’s giving her companionship.
While this initially feels like a run-of-the-mill Single White Female rip-off in the making, The Guest truly steps up a gear in the final 15 minutes of the opening episode, taking our expectations of where the series is going and proceeding to throw it down Fran’s perfectly structured spiral staircase. It’s in these scenes that Creevy truly shines, while Myles’ powerful and understated role teases a power player at the start of her game.
In the blink of an eye, this slowburn drama switches into the psychological thriller we were promised from the outset, putting wheels in motion for the three episodes to come. The Guest is a series I am more than happy to welcome into my living room.
‘The Guest’ continues next Monday at 9pm on BBC One
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