The Third Day: Summer: Neon NZ Review

Television of unease doesn't come much better than new psychological thriller, The Third Day. Even if the answers aren't quite as enticing as the questions posed early on.

Jude Law stars as Sam, a former social worker who now runs a garden centre with his wife. On a road somewhere he makes a call to an unknown person, his voice edged with desperation and urgency. 

Stumbling into a woods, Sam sees a girl apparently playing a game - but when the game turns nearly deadly, Sam rescues her and offers to take her home, an offshore island called Osea, separated from the mainland by a causeway that only opens a few times a day due to flooding.

So The Third Day begins - and the new series from Dennis Kelly, the creator of Utopia never really lets up with its mystery and intrigue, as it sends Sam and the viewers on a trip that messes with both the head and reality.

The Third Day is split into 6 episodes, and three sections. 

The first three episodes, subtitled Summer, concern Sam and his time on the mysterious island of Osea.

The second three, entitled Winter, concern Naomie Harris' mother Helen as she visits Osea with her daughters. 

Sandwiched in between is a 12 hour immersive event, the screening details of which have yet to be revealed. 

It's fair to say that the limits are pushed in The Third Day's first three episodes (episode one of which is now available to view on Neon NZ, and which plays Tuesday nights on SoHo in NZ) which make at times for uncomfortable viewing, even if you are familiar with The Wicker Man, The League of Gentlemen and Midsommar.

But while the reveals in episodes two and three help piece together the portentous jigsaw puzzle, they're not as massively earth-shattering as perhaps you'd expect; equally though, they are not on Lost levels of disappointment.

It's in the thrill of the journey and the steely determination of Jude Law's Sam that The Third Day gets its power.

With Law's continually furrowed brow and director Marc Munden's use of close ups, The Third Day has a very real tendency to unnerve as it spins its story. It's helped by Law's edgy performance that suggests confusion as he searches for answers on Osea. 

But it's greatly exacerbated by the likes of Paddy Considine and Emily Watson as the owners of the local pub, and Katherine Waterston as one of those visiting the island for its pagan festival. Sure the folk horror genre has undergone a revival thanks to Midsommar, but at its heart, The Third Day appears to be more a treatise on grief and how it affects personally those involved.

In Jude Law's Sam, the unsettling tipping point seems to ever be closer (opening moments show Law sobbing uncontrollably by a stream as a piece of clothing is placed in and left to float away) but Law never proves showy in his portrayal.

It's part of the success of Kelly's The Third Day that nothing is overplayed - from the score to the startling use of over-exposed colours and odd imagery that's dropped seemingly randomly within, the script and its delivery know well that understated adds to the oddity of proceedings and the unnvering nature of some of the dialogue.

Ultimately, the first part of The Third Day provides some kind of conclusion.

Granted, it may not be the game-changing set of answers that is provoked by the initial questions, but the three episodes do feel like a complete whole that reward for the three hour investment. It's perhaps enjoyed more with an open mind and with a spoiler-free attitude. Fans of the genre may get more from The Third Day, but even casual viewers will be rewarded with the intrigue of a psychological jigsaw and the powerhouse central performance of Jude Law.

The Third Day airs on Neon and on SoHo on Tuesday nights. The first three episodes were supplied for the purpose of this review