Ripley" Is Still the Best Limited Series on Netflix — Even Two Years Later
Some shows you watch once and move on. "Ripley" is not one of those shows. Two years after it landed on Netflix, I keep going back to it, and every rewatch makes the case a little harder to argue with: this is one of the finest limited series the platform has ever put out, and it isn't particularly close.
If you missed it when it dropped in April 2024, "Ripley" is Netflix's adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley," the same source material behind the 1999 Matt Damon film. Andrew Scott plays Tom Ripley, a small-time con man scraping by in early 1960s New York who gets hired by a wealthy businessman to travel to Italy and coax his drifting son, Dickie Greenleaf, back home. What starts as a simple errand curdles into something far darker, and far more compelling, over eight meticulously crafted episodes.
Written, directed, and executive produced entirely by Steven Zaillian — the Oscar-winning mind behind "Schindler's List" and "The Night Of" — "Ripley" is a rare case of true singular authorship in prestige television. Every frame feels considered. Every choice feels intentional. That kind of control almost never happens on a show this size, and it shows in every episode.
The Black-and-White Was the Right Call
The boldest decision Zaillian made was shooting the entire series in black and white, and it's the decision that elevates "Ripley" from "well-made thriller" to genuine visual art. Zaillian has said Highsmith herself would have imagined the story in black and white if she'd pictured it as a film, and once you watch it, it's hard to imagine "Ripley" any other way. The shadows do half the storytelling. Staircases, marble floors, rippling water, cigarette smoke curling through a hotel room — everything becomes texture and menace. It's less like watching a streaming show and more like watching a restored film noir that happened to get made in the 2020s.
The cinematography earned an Emmy, and it's not hard to see why. There are shots in this series — a body being dragged down a spiral staircase, the Mediterranean sun flattened into pure white light — that belong in a museum, not a queue of "shows to binge this weekend."
Andrew Scott Disappears Into the Role
Andrew Scott's performance is the engine that makes the whole thing run. His Tom Ripley is quiet, watchful, and unnervingly adaptable — a man built entirely out of other people's mannerisms because he's never had any worth keeping of his own. Scott plays him without a hint of cartoonish villainy. You don't watch this Ripley and think "monster." You watch him and, uncomfortably, find yourself hoping he gets away with it. That's the trick of the performance, and it's why Scott picked up Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG nominations for the role.
Dakota Fanning brings a sharp, suspicious intelligence to Marge Sherwood that keeps her from ever feeling like the story's designated obstacle, and Johnny Flynn's Dickie Greenleaf has just enough careless charm to make you understand why Tom would want to become him. But this is Scott's show from the first frame to the last, and he carries it completely.
A Slow Burn That Actually Pays Off
I won't pretend "Ripley" is fast. It takes its time, sometimes to a fault, letting scenes breathe long past the point where a lesser show would have cut away. That pacing isn't a flaw so much as the entire point. Zaillian wants you sitting in Tom's discomfort, his improvisation, his narrow escapes, long enough to feel the tension build under your skin rather than just watching it happen to a character on screen. By the time the series reaches its final stretch, that patience has been converting into real, sustained dread.
It's the kind of show that rewards a second and third viewing, because once you know where Tom is headed, every early scene plays differently. Small gestures read as foreshadowing. Lines that seemed throwaway reveal themselves as quietly loaded. That's a big part of why I've never fully put this one away — there's always another layer to catch.
** fyiNetflix The Verdict**
"Ripley" isn't a comfort watch, and it's not built for background viewing. It asks for your full attention and rewards it with some of the most gorgeous, meticulously composed television Netflix has ever released. Two years on, with plenty of flashier limited series having come and gone in the meantime, "Ripley" still stands as a genuine high-water mark for the format — a patient, gorgeously shot character study anchored by one of the best performances of the decade.
If you haven't watched it yet, it's still streaming on Netflix. If you have, you already know why it's worth going back.
Rating: 5/5
