During the pandemic, some of us turned to sourdough starters. For me, mysteries were more my cup of tea (including tea cozy mysteries). That’s how I discovered Ruth Ware — new to me when I first read her debut In a Dark, Dark Wood, but now a familiar favorite, as I’ve since become a completist of her works.
The Woman in Cabin 10 was actually the last of her novels I read — just in time for the announcement that a Netflix adaptation was in development. My personal favorite remains The Death of Mrs. Westaway, a stylistic outlier in Ware’s catalog, but Cabin 10 was also an incredibly enjoyable read. It’s a strong example of the modern mystery-thriller hybrid — tense, character-driven, and when done right, a raucous good time.
Knowing Netflix was adapting one of her more thriller-focused books had me genuinely optimistic. Keira Knightley, who plays Laura “Lo” Blacklock, seems to be deep in her thriller era lately — between this, Black Doves, Boston Strangler (somewhat thriller-y), and Official Secrets. Guy Pearce feels almost molded to play a billionaire CEO — the kind who might appear philanthropic, or, more likely, something far more sinister. Add in a cast of excellent British actors, including Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) and David Morrissey (Sherwood), and I had plenty to be excited about from the lineup alone.
Keira Knightley and David Ajala in ‘The Woman in Cabin 10’ (Photo Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh/Netflix)
The Story
The story centers on Lo, a journalist for The Guardian, who’s just finished a harrowing assignment where her subject was murdered. Hoping for a lighter project, she accepts an opportunity to cover billionaire Pierce and his wife’s luxury yacht trip — a fundraising voyage for a cause close to the dying wife’s heart.
Lo feels out of place among the wealthy guests, especially when she discovers that her ex, photographer Ben Morgan, is also aboard. But when she witnesses a woman go overboard — a woman she briefly met in the cabin next door — and no one believes her, Lo must prove she isn’t losing her mind while staying alive herself.
The Performances
Knightley expertly plays the out-of-place Lo, using her natural charm to navigate between the worlds of the wealthy and the ordinary. When she encounters her ex, Ben Morgan (played wonderfully by David Ajala), we see the witty, sharp Keira we’ve come to love — equally biting in her wit and playfully coy (Mr. Darcy gets it).
But it’s once the inciting event occurs that she really turns on her skills, portraying Lo’s descent from composed observer to frantic investigator, gaslit and dismissed at every turn. Her unraveling feels both believable and deeply human — a performance that anchors the film’s growing tension.
The Adaptation
Like the book, the film is delightful but not top-tier Ware — more suited to a fun night in than a classic rewatch. Once the mystery is solved, there’s less incentive to revisit; it relies heavily on the “what happened?” rather than the “why” or “how.”
Because I’d read the novel recently, I remembered many of the plot turns, which made some of the clues feel a little too visible. Perhaps that’s just the nature of adapting a mystery — what’s buried in prose often becomes clearer on screen. Still, the final third diverges the most from the source material, and I found those liberties refreshing. Screenwriters Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse, and Simon Stone make smart adjustments that keep things brisk and engaging.
Final Thoughts
Anticipating the film, Ware also released her first-ever sequel, The Woman in Suite 11, in July — a return to Lo’s world. While the movie leaves room for continuation, it stands well on its own if Netflix opts to stop at one.
I enjoyed the adaptation enough to hope for more — especially to see how Ware’s world continues to evolve on screen. But as always with Netflix, we’ll have to wait and see if the mysterious algorithm gods deem it worthy of a sequel.
