Richard Armitage And Charlie Murphy Set To Star In Netflix Thriller Series Damage
I'm not often squicked out by a series description, but I find the one for the upcoming Netflix series "Damage" really unsettling. With all the horror films and sci-fi that I watch, it might be surprising that this one is sort of vile for me, but it is. "Damage" is based on the Josephine Hart 1990s political novella about "erotic obsession and forbidden desire," and Richard Armitage and Charlie Murphy have now joined the cast, according to Variety.
Armitage ("The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies") is set to play William, a doctor who is having an affair with — and here it is — his soon-to-be daughter-in-law Anna, played by Charlie Murphy ("Peaky Blinders"). She is engaged to William's son Martyn, played by Rish Shah (also set to appear in the upcoming Disney+ series "Ms. Marvel"). Anna is trying to continue both relationships, but one there is no way to keep something like this hidden for very long.
William's wife Ingrid is played by Indira Varma ("Game of Thrones"), and she has no idea of the "obsessive spiral" that William is falling into. Also joining the series is Pippa Bennett-Warner ("Gangs of London") who will play Peggy.
A family affair
Maybe it's the whole betrayal of his own son that gets me. Maybe it's just the ick factor of it all. I just know that a story like this isn't grabbing me, despite the fantastic cast. I guess the whole "erotic obsession and forbidden desire" thing is coming back after years of few erotic thrillers. At least that's what everyone is saying in regards to the Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck film "Deep Water" which premieres today.
Erotic thrillers were totally fun during their heyday in the 1990s ("Basic Instinct," "Disclosure," and "Body Heat" as examples") and it's great that they're coming back, but this one seems ... well, maybe it's just me. I don't know how much of a thriller this is going to be, of course, but when a father and son are sleeping with the same woman, and she's engaged to one of them, I feel like something bad is going to come from it, and it definitely won't end well. You don't see stories like this ending with a big family picnic.
"Damage" was written by Morgan Lloyd-Malcolm ("The Interrogation of Leo and Lisa") and Benji Walters with Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D'Sa ("Good Vibrations") set to direct. The series will be produced by Gina Carter, with Moonage's Matthew Read and Frith Triplady, as well as Gaumont's Alison Jackson executive producing.