The Woman in Cabin 10 review – silliness of Keira Knightley megayacht thriller tips it overboard

<p>Knightley is twice dunked in the briny as she tries to uncover what’s going on aboard Guy Pearce’s boat in this soggy Agatha-Christie-ish mystery</p><p>As it happens, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/sep/24/the-hack-review-jack-thorne-media-corruption-guardian">ITV drama The Hack</a> isn’t the only dramatisation of the Guardian’s investigatory journalism right now. There is also this … erm … entirely bizarre mystery thriller from Netflix, adapted from a novel by Ruth Ware, about an intrepid Guardian reporter called Laura Blacklock, played by Keira Knightley. Fresh off a lid-lifting scoop about Kurdish children, she is invited aboard a colossal private yacht with a party of notables and celebrities, as the guest of sinister plutocrat Richard Bullmer, played by Guy Pearce; he wishes to transport them all to a gala dinner in the Norwegian fjords for an announcement about the charitable foundation endowed by his wife Anne (Lisa Loven Kongsli).</p><p>Once aboard and out on the open seas, Laura witnesses something deeply strange regarding the woman in cabin 10 – the cabin next to hers – but can’t get any of the guests or crew to believe her. Did she imagine it? Is the strain of her award-winning investigatory journalism causing her to have a breakdown? Among the hilariously Agatha-Christie-ish lineup on the passenger manifest is Laura’s ex-boyfriend Ben (David Ajala), Mr Bullmer’s personal physician Dr Mehta (Art Malik), bullish businessman Thomas Heatherley (David Morrissey) and his boozy wife Heidi (Hannah Waddingham), Instagram star Grace (Kaya Scodelario), smug socialite Adam (Daniel Ings) and druggie pop star Danny (Paul Kaye).</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/10/the-woman-in-cabin-10-review-keira-knightley-megayacht-thriller">Continue reading...</a>