A disclaimer about this review of Disclaimer. This is not a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all names, characters, places, and events mentioned are not the product of my imagination, but born of the minds of Alfonso Cuarón, Renée Knight and others who worked on the TV series to which it is devoted. What you are about to read is, in other words, true, however preposterous it may seem. Any inaccuracies are of course my own and may be the result of Streaming Brain, a condition whose distressing symptoms include befuddlement, growing unease and – in rare cases – full-blown despair.
Now that’s out of the way, let us begin. Disclaimer, a swish production in seven “chapters” (the pretension here – most of us call them episodes – is instantly alarming), has been heading towards us like a meteor or a cow pat ever since the Venice Film Festival, where it premiered. Based on Renée Knight’s 2015 bestseller of the same name, it’s written and directed by Cuarón (Gravity, Roma), and stars Cate Blanchett as Catherine Ravenscroft, a crusading British documentary-maker. In supporting roles are (surprise!) Catherine’s outstanding designer wardrobe and Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays her husband, Robert. He does something with trusts and NGOs because, although he is Posh, he is also Decent.
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