Sirens Review: Netflix's Latest Plunge Into High Society Is Not What It Seems

As Devon (Meghann Fahy) wanders out of a Buffalo police station in the opening moments of Sirens, a new five-part miniseries, she sends the latest in a string of desperate texts to her sister, Simone (Milly Alcock). When Devon makes it back to the home she shares with her father, Bruce (Bill Camp), who's beginning to enter the stage of dementia that requires near-constant hands-on care, she finds that Simone has finally responded. Sort of. On the front steps, Devon finds a basket of fruit from Edible Arrangements and a note encouraging her to keep her chin up. Enraged, Devon decides to return the basket to Simone in person. That means traveling from Buffalo to the privileged island community of Port Haven. It's less than a day's trip, but it effectively takes Devon into another world.

Sirens is the latest creation of Molly Smith Metzler, whose credits include the earlier Netflix series Maid, another exploration of the American class divide. Here, Metzler adapts her own play Elemeno Pea, which was partly inspired by her own experiences working summers at Martha's Vineyard. But Sirens isn't purely told from the outside in. Simone has her own reasons for trying to get as far away from Buffalo as possible, reasons that become clearer as the series progresses. Devon's resentment for Simone's absence has layers as well. In fact, nothing is quite what it seems at first in Sirens, particularly characters who appear one dimensional at first.

7.1

Sirens

at Netflix

Like

• Layered characters
• Strong performances
• The story moves in unexpected directions

Dislike

• That unpredictability can lead to tonal whiplash

Chief among these is Michaela (Julianne Moore), Simone's boss, the second wife ultra-rich Peter (Kevin Bacon), whose high-profile conservation work and the community she's fostered around it sometimes gives her the air of a cult leader, a perspective Sirens seems to endorse at first. Michaela is introduced as an almost otherworldly figure, and the hold she has on Simone understandably raises eyebrows. Michaela treats Simone with a sisterly intimacy that almost allows Simone to forget that she's her employer. Almost.

Certainly Simone's co-workers don't forget the pecking order, or that Simone's placement near the top doesn't mean she's not an employee. Simone commands them with the authority of a drill sergeant, then listens as the pings of the group text complaining about her make their way from one phone to the next. She has authority but no respect. In such moments, Sirens makes it easy to feel for both Simone's humiliating position and the annoyance of those under her command.

Sirens' ability to shift sympathies exemplifies what makes it compelling but also occasionally unfocused. The setup seems to promise that the long weekend over which it unfolds will offer a series of salacious revelations, particularly after Devon learns of rumors that Peter's first wife disappeared under mysterious circumstances and that others on the island have likened Michaela to a cult leader.

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That the series is ultimately more interested in the people than it is in any misdeeds they might have committed might disappoint those expecting a string of melodramatic twists and turns rather than a deeper plunge into flawed, conflicted characters. That approach allows more room for fine central performances from Fahy, Alcock, and Moore but also from a supporting cast that includes Glenn Howerton as Simone's summer fling (who could be more than a fling) and Felix Solis as Jose, an employee of Peter's who can barely hide his distaste for Simone but offers a sympathetic ear to Devon upon her arrival.

Sirens' plot moves along briskly, and Michaela and Peter's island compound and all the conspicuous wealth within it provides an alternately appealing and appalling setting. It's never less than entertaining but also occasionally whiplash-inducing. Broad humor, like a forced shopping trip that finds Devon in the company of a clutch of trophy wives, lives besides some truly dark material concerning alcoholism and child abuse. It's never quite clear what kind of show Sirens wants to be, which can be distracting, but it can also be as much a feature as a bug. Sirens keeps viewers guessing where it's going to go next and who, ultimately, its characters are at heart — or if they even know. Maybe it's apt that the show itself feels like it's having an identity crisis at times.

Premieres: All five episodes premiere on Netflix on May 22
Who's in it: Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock
Who's behind it: Molly Smith Metzler
For fans of: Soapy stories with substance and strong performances
How many episodes we watched: 5 of 5