User reviews

It took me a few episodes to get into it, but after that I was good. It's really pretty good and well written and produced. Episode 8 is where it all comes together. I don't know how many episodes are planned but as I sit here watching episode 8, it seems as this may be the final episode or at least it could be as everything is revealed. I think the bad reviews are a result of either impatience or a lack of understanding of this type of story telling. I heard some people complain about production values, but the production values are as good as anything else out there. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but as for me, I'm glad I gave this show a chance. It really was very good.

I don't understand the bad reviews. It's a mini series based on a book. I did not read the book so I was going on blind. However, I think it's good. I see a bunch of reviews saying it has "bad acting". I actually think the acting is good. I like the cast. It's got the Natalee Holloway-missing-in-Aruba-feel. Honestly it's a good series to watch because unfortunately we all have a false sense of security when we are in a vacation spot outside of our own country. I'm only 3 episodes in but so far so good. My guess is that the culprit is not the person they are setting you up to believe it is. Have I see better? Yes. Have a seen worse? Oh God yes. It's definitely worth a watch and the bad reviews are being overly critical.

I just don't get how this is a 5.4 rating currently. Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion but IMO this show is a solid 7.5 so far so i'm giving it an 8/10.

The cast is good, some better than others, and the story is interesting enough for you to keep wanting to watch the next episode. It's far from perfect, I think the editing could be improved it's too jumpy for my liking tho I do like the various timeline approach.

Not sure if it's going to be dragged out a bit too long will have to wait and see, but so far am enjoying it. Give it a go, if you are into true crime documentaries/shows then this will hook you, either way it's one of the better new series out there right now.

Update: After 2 more episodes what I feared is becoming true .....it's starting to drag and I'm losing interest all the storylines involved now although initially interesting don't have enough weight to be dragged out, i just want to know how this ends now, downgrading by a point.

The narrative arc of this gripping mystery is not simple and you do have to pay attention. But that's true to the source material of the novel. Moreover, the point of the story has more to do with complex issues of truth, social stratification, and the search for safety from trauma, than your garden-variety murder mystery usually serves up. Furthermore, the back-and-forth pattern of the storytelling emphasizes the reality of cataclysmic personal trauma: one can never really leave the terrible event in the past. To watch good people self-destruct under the weight of their own bad choices can be intensely moving, but that's why real tragedy has been a staple of great drama for thousands of years. Don't be afraid to give yourself the gift of seeing great actors in a terrible ordeal just because you might have to pay close attention to the time-shifting plot.

The bad reviews out there are par for the course. But some of them don't even make sense. Like comparing it to White Lotus. (Because they're at tropical resorts, these 2 shows in totally different genres are worth comparison, lol.) Or people complaining about flashbacks every 3 minutes. (There are some flashbacks, but not many. Those people must be confused by the story progressing along different timelines.)

Most of the negative reviews are likely either boomers who think all tropical nations (and people) are the same, or Gen-Z who can't follow a storyline that's more complex than a Tik Tok lip-sync video.

Turn it on, it's fun.

First of all, to those who find the flashbacks confusing or even claim they ruin the show - this is pure ignorance. The flashbacks were obvious by they were filmed (so not confusing at all), and they were relevant to the story. To those who think the show was slow - you're just impatient.

Anyone with a average IQ + common sense can follow this plot and understand how the flashbacks are necessary to the series.

The acting wasn't Oscar worthy, but it wasn't bad - it was on par with a Hulu series. PTSD was well portrayed (bravo!). And in the final episode we learn exactly what happened to Alison. No, there was no eye witness in the series to what happened to her, but her sister came to a reasonable conclusion after compiling the facts of that night she knew to be true.

The ending was, I think, unexpected, a relief (by how it differed compared to the expectation that was set throughout the entire series), and sad. I'd be happy to watch a season 2... I'd love to understand why Claire moved to the west coast to a family that has yet to heal from the trauma they all experienced, and why she left s boyfriend who loved her. So, please give us a season two and continue to develop these characters!

Unfortunately the entire premise of the show is flashbacks. If you're into that kind of thing then you have struck gold because it's literally slingshotting between periods every 3-5 minutes. I find it's a horrible plot design for television and doesn't really give you a lot to look forward to.

Also, lacklustre character development in the first episode. I don't really like any of the characters or hate any of them it's just kind of blah acting.

Really wish they would have given us some big moment for the first episode at least to set the pace or get us excited for what's left to come.

It's a miss.

Why is that a thing with literally most reviewers on this platform? If you haven't finished watching what you're attempting to write your two cents on then don't. You clearly cannot formulate a thought further than, "I liked the acting". If all you saw was 5 seconds from the first episode why burden people with your nonsense?

The only con from this whole show was the stories big climax of what happened. "Spoiler?" Yet another Karen ruining the lives of POC.

Aside from that one aspect of the story this was a well done show. If a show or movie makes you want to binge it into late hours then it's done it's job in gripping you in. Everyone's performance was on point especially that sad couple about to start a family (the dude played a disgusting creep perfectly... a little too convincing o_0).

I do wish some characters had more screen time since the whole show did not revolve entirely around Allison. So because of that choice they could have shown more on Edwin's, Sara's and even Desmunds life. Overall a gripping show that almost makes you want to read the book, if you haven't already (especially if you had no clue it was a book first).

This feels a rather low budget for me. It's a Caribbean murder mystery that appears to be told through three different time lines from multiple character perspectives. It unfortunately doesn't make it any more interesting. The hard jump cuts with no visual cues just makes the storytelling disjointed.

It also doesn't help that none of the actors have much of a screen presence. Various male characters fawning over a rather plain looking girl in West Duchovny makes it less believable, and Alycia Debnam-Carey can barely act. Everyone else is utterly forgettable.

Sadly, there's nothing compelling here to keep watching a poorly drawn out drama.

An upper middle class family goes on vacation to a Caribbean island resort - Mom (Betsy Brandt), Dad (Michael Park), 19 year old Alison (West Duchovny), a confident, opinionated, and flirty Ivy League student, and anxious, shy 7 year old Claire (Kenlee Anaya Townsend). On the last night of the trip Alison disappears and is later found dead. Two resort workers and childhood friends Edwin (Jayden Elijah) and Clive (Josh Bonzie) are suspected to have killed her but never charged. 20 years later Claire, now going by Emily (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is living in New York and has finally gotten her life together after suffering a mental breakdown two years prior, when a chance encounter sends her on a treacherous quest for answers about her sister's death.

The story is told in two intertwining timelines. We watch Alison and family on their vacation, day by day, and as they draw closer to that fateful last night, present day Emily/Claire is unraveling as she gets closer and closer to the answers. Additional flashbacks to the aftermath of the tragedy and to Edwin and Clive's childhood provide some explanations and backstory with potential clues. The placement of the flashbacks seems random, but I actually liked it that way. They felt organic. The filmmakers' intent was never obvious. Clues came in subtly and unexpectedly, and it was impossible to tell what was a clue and what wasn't. And the final resolution turned out to be something completely unexpected. There was a bit of a hole in the last piece in the chain of events leading to Alison's death, but the rest of the chain was so great, so surprising, it didn't really bother me. Even the epilogue was full of unexpected turns.

I have to say, I usually can't help noticing holes in just about everything I watch. I didn't notice any here, aside from that one part.

Added bonus. It's more than just a thriller. It's a story about the toll it takes to pretend to be someone you're not.

Overall decent, although it did lack in excitement. The worst thing about the series is the way it flashed back all the way to when Clive was a young child in elementary school. I just couldn't get into that part of the show. The flashbacks to when Claire was younger and her memory of the resort and when her sister was killed, is interesting but too much time was spent on the Clive flashbacks. Hope season 2 leaves that out.

Also, the music played in the background to try to make certain scenes seem more mysterious, was used way too much. The simplest conversation would be happening, and that slow music would be played to up the excitement, but it only made the scenes stand out as boring.

I was skeptical over this show since before it aired already had so much drama attached to it with Victoria Pedretti exiting the show and the studio not paying the crew that worked on the project, but decided to give it a try ... and nope, it's definitely not for me.

The whole concept the show it build on is annoying with all those flashbacks every other second. The acting is so bad and dull especially coming from the leading lady.

She's really not convincing , like she's struggling to be believable. I feel like Pedretti would've delivered a much better and convincing performance since she's really good with emotions and she would've raised the show to a watchable one status.

I didn't like it, it's definitely not for me ... I have to connect with the characters, to like them in order to be able to enjoy a show, and Alycia Debnam-Carey portrayal of Emily it's so not it ... it lacks spark and passion, thus making the character dull and annoying.

I will definitely won't waste my time on it.

Not for anyone who can't focus easily. It is a show of flashbacks (think This Is Us) so if you don't have a long attention span you may not understand. I believe the flashbacks are essential to understanding the character development.

The backstory gives the viewer time to bond with the characters. Building up to empathy for the victims and likely twists.

This is vaguely parallel of the Becky Middleton murder in the Bahamas in the 90s. Maybe that is what is keeping my attention?

Overall I am enjoying it this far. While I am currently intrigued, I hope the rest of the season does not disappoint.

I read the book first, the book was a little slow Paced as well and the ending was ok(same as the show in my opinion )but I think they advertised it too much as a who done it, when really it's completely character driven. I think not reading the book makes you miss out on that because you don't get to hear the different narratives from different characters. The book make me crave more about the characters. It also narrates a lot of different point of views and when narrating Allison you understand what they are trying to do with her character . I went in with very low expectations but ended up enjoying a lot. I think it was adapted well and I like what they added to make it better and more dramatic .I think the combo of the book and show make for good entertainment. And I can understand why someone who didn't read it would dislike. I recommend reading the book and then watching.

Emily Thomas (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is a documentary editor in New York City. Some 20 years earlier, she and older sister Alison Thomas (West Duchovny) are on a Caribbean resort vacation with their parents. Alison's murder became a media circus and Emily has been dealing with it ever since.

The present day story isn't enough. I do like Emily's personal struggles, but the investigation isn't that compelling. I find myself waiting for the resort scenes. This could easily be reduced to a simple White Lotus with the standard murder mystery. That part is compelling, but only after episode six or so. This is about clueless privileged white girl Alison and her inability to understand the secrets of the local worker class. It is always about her even as she proclaims her progressive aspirations. That is the most important part. There are some good red herrings. The present day is not as compelling. This is an 8 episode series. I don't know if they are doing more seasons.

Some reviewers mention another season of Saint X; well there will be no more West Indian Saint X! I will watch the remaining two episodes but as fast as possible and only to see a non West Indian murderer (I hope).

Besides the film location in the Dominican Republic, I can't mention any other reasonable things about Saint X (although you cant using drones too much, that is also very irritating). Furthermore the story has too many holes, is slowly built up -with the flashbacks at slowest because after 6 episodes I know as much as with the start. The cast is really annoying and unbelievable, and some are very irritating by speaking pseudo West Indian! And the characters are far from interesting. So either the book by Alexis Schaitkin is dull, either the adaptation by Leila Gerstein makes me sleep. There is so much more to enjoy in the world of TV series, even with a small budget..

Storyline was ok, I like the lead actor. Sick of watching shows with people putting on a fake West Indian accent though. I'm sure there's plenty of talented actors that can carry a proper accent because they actually have one! I'm from Jamaica but raised in Canada and don't have an accent at all, and I can tell after the first word. It's almost mocking. No doubt they tried their best though, no shame on them for the attempts, the casting should have been pickier though. It was distracting me from the story. No Jamaican substitutes him and her with he and she that much ever. Total Overkill

Aside from that the acting was mediocre, Alycia Debnam-Carey was really the only one that stood out. I initially rated this 6 but after watching the first 3 episodes I took away a few stars because this is not a good show after all. Skip it.

So far the storyline is okay. It's nothing really special, but still decent. I'm missing a hook, something to draw me into it more. Maybe more of a suspenseful feeling?

Although it's nice ( and good!) to have an established background for the characters. The alternating timeline/time jumps also aren't everyone's cup of tea. I think it makes it harder to connect with the current time line characters and takes away from the suspense.

I actually really like the cast. I've seen some mixed reactions about Alycia Debnam-Carey in this but I actually really liked her. I think she did a great job with what she was given. She plays Emily going down a spiral but trying to hide it/appear normal quite well.

The writing/plot doesn't always do the actors justice. Still a decent watch tho.

UPDATE/EDIT: now being 6 episodes in it's really starting to grow on me! I'm quite excited about the how the next episode is going to play out. So I'm bumping my rating up to an 8.5/10.

Never seen such opposing and dramatically different opinions on a show. Acting is really bad to acting is OK, and so on and so forth. The only thing I take that seems almost universal is the sporadic jumping between timelines and points of view.

Everything else just tells me I need to have a watch and make my own opinion, which I fully recommend to anyone reading reviews. I'm no fan of jumping through POV and back and forth in time, but sometimes it works, so I'll give it a go. Fingers crossed I end up in the approving side because the premise sounds quite good. Hope the same for anyone else that reads this, good luck.