TV Review | Boat Story - Future of the Force

“In the same vein as the Coen Brothers films, Boat Story is a gripping and intense thriller series with a touch of British humour. Daisy Haggard and Samuel Wells are great in their respective role but the real scene stealer is Tchéky Karyo as this cold-blooded gangster.”

Boat Story is a British 6-episode limited series that aired in the UK on BBC One from November to December 2023. It will finally release in the United States tomorrow on Amazon Freevee.

STORY

Two complete strangers, Janet Campbell (Daisy Haggard) and Samuel Wells (Paterson Joseph) find a boat full of cocaine. They decide to sell the product and split the proceeds. However, things quickly go from bad to worse when they find themselves entangled with The Tailor (Tchéky Karyo), the man who owned the cocaine found on the boat.

If you love the films made by the Coen Brothers then this series is for you. It’s in the same vein but with British humour. It goes from an absurd situation to another and to another. It’s quite the rollercoaster. While using British humour, it is actually a serious series. There is a good balance between the seriousness of the thriller and the humour of the situations. In fact, it is a gripping and intense thriller. It will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end. Right from the start, it goes into unexpected territory. So, you never know what is going to happen. It is so exciting. With each episode, it keeps subverting expectations as Janet and Samuel try to get out of their mess.

The series also follows the story of the characters connected to this drug problem. This brings us to The Tailor, a cold-blooded gangster who makes a life-changing encounter with Pat Tooh (Joanna Scanlan), a local woman who owns a pasty shop. There is also Guy (Craig Fairbrass), the assassin who is facing an existential crisis. Moreover, it is a series that is unabashedly brutal and violent with a lot of dead bodies. There is a mass shooting scene that is extremely disturbing.

On a side note, there is a post-credits scene at the end of the final episode.

CAST

Tchéky Karyo as The Tailor in *Boat Story*. Credit: Matt Squire/Amazon Freevee

Daisy Haggard and Samuel Wells are great in their respective role. They both deliver a performance that brings likeability to their characters, which makes you care about them. Furthermore, Tchéky Karyo delivers a remarkable performance as this cold-blooded gangster. Tchéky is really scary in this role. But he is just as impressive in bringing the insanity of the character on screen in the later episodes. It’s like he is playing two different characters in one. It’s clearly not easy to play this but Tchéky Karyo absolutely nails it. On top of that, Craig Fairbrass is quite funny as this henchman/assassin who has an existential crisis.

VISUALS & SOUNDTRACK

The story is set in a small town in Northern England where nothing ever happens. It is the perfect setting for such a story and the simplicity of the place contrasts with the absurdity of what is happening. Finally, Dominik Scherrer has composed a good music score for this series. It is nothing really special but it fits with the mix of thriller atmosphere and humour.

VERDICT

In the same vein as the Coen Brothers films, Boat Story is a gripping and intense thriller series with a touch of British humour. Daisy Haggard and Samuel Wells are great in their respective role but the real scene stealer is Tchéky Karyo as this cold-blooded gangster.