It’s Halloween week, so let’s board something haunted by regret, rich people and psychopaths.
Netflix’s The Woman in Cabin 10 is a proper grown-up thriller starring Keira Knightley as Lo Blacklock, a travel journalist sent on a luxury cruise that turns into a nightmare.
The ultra-rich board a super yacht as a “fundraiser for charity”, imagine how many mouths could be fed by the cost.
Knightley hasn’t been on screen since Boston Strangler in 2023, and she returns here in full force. Lo boards the ship expecting champagne, calm seas and polite small talk. Instead, she hears a scream in the night and swears she sees a woman thrown overboard. When she reports it, no one believes her. Cabin 10, they tell her, is empty.
It’s the perfect setup for a mystery. A small space, a line-up of suspicious strangers and one woman trying not to lose her mind. As a journalist being ignored and gaslit by the crew and guests, you get the feeling she’s the only “real one” in a sea of psychos.
Knightley plays the role with sharp exhaustion. She’s fragile but focused and desperate to be believed.
Fun fact: the film was shot partly on a Norwegian cruise liner docked off Malta, with interiors rebuilt at Pinewood Studios. Director Simon Stone called it “a battle between mood lighting and motion sickness.” Crew members apparently had to strap equipment to the floors between takes.
I have been on a big boat, SA Agulhas II, to write about a trip too, thankfully with less murder but more seasickness. I swear a part of my soul didn’t make it back to land.
The Woman in Cabin 10 is based on Ruth Ware’s bestselling novel, which sold more than two million copies.
By the end, you’ll be second-guessing everyone on board and wondering how deep international waters really go.
So this Halloween, skip the fake blood and bad jump scares. Pour a glass of red, pull up a blanket and press play. The Woman in Cabin 10 will have you gripping the couch cushions long after the credits roll.
Poppy Kornel’s verdict: Keira Knightley is back, and the sea never looked more suspicious.
