To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Harlan Coben’s new Amazon Prime Video thriller Lazarus has been hailed as a ‘bone-chilling binge’.
Co-created by the best-selling author and Bafta winner Danny Brocklehurst, the six-part psychological thriller follows Sam Claflin as Lazarus who returns home to find that his father (Bill Nighy) has committed suicide.
Relying upon the help of his sister, Jenna (Black Mirror star Alexandra Roach), Lazarus begins to have disturbing experiences that can’t be explained.
Beset by memories of his past and victims of unsolved murders, Lazarus becomes entangled in a series of cold-cases as he grapples with the mystery of his father’s death and his sister’s murder 25 years ago.
Sharing their thoughts on the show, critics have described it as one that ‘keeps itself on everyone’s minds long after’ the final credits.
Comic Book Resources (CBR) claimed that it is ‘bone-chilling’ and ‘dark in nature’.
A review continued: ‘It’s an easily consumable watch, indulging itself in ideas about grief’s psychological impact on the mind and the power mental health professionals have over vulnerable patients, if not regulated.’
Tech Radar went on to describe it as a mix between The Silence of the Lambs and The Sixth Sence.
What does Metro think?
Our TV reporter Milo Pope shares his thoughts…
After interviewing the best-selling author myself, I’m sure he won’t mind me saying that with Harlan Coben – what you see is what you get.
Any novel or TV series made by the New Jersey native is guaranteed to contain a multitude of twists that nobody, not even Harlan himself, can see coming.
From Tell No One to Netflix’s Fool Me Once, the 63-year-old knows how to shock an audience. But his latest project, Lazarus, feels like a mis-step.
Whether it’s down to viewer fatigue with this type of thriller scenario or, frankly, the performances weren’t good enough, something is off with with Coben’s collaboration with Amazon Prime.
From unnatural dialogue to outlandishly far-fetched supernatural scenarios, its ridiculous plot renders itself laughable at times, in all the worst ways.
Despite dramatic plot points – from murders to deathly affairs and suicide – bizarrely, none of it felt exciting and it all turned out to be rather pointless when all was said and done.
Watching Lazarus, and much of Harlan’s work for that matter, is a bit like eating McDonald’s. When you’re hungover and in need of something quick and easy to ingest, it can be great. But afterwards, it can leave you feeling empty and when you try to think back , there’s no real nutritional value or depth.
Of course, there are people who love McDonald’s and these type of styilised thrillers with endless twists and turns. But for me, Lazarus left me with an empty stomach.
However, some critics did not seem to be as pleased with the series, as AV Club said: ‘Lazarus is a lazy psychological drama that uses its supernatural conceit as a crutch.’
Heaven of Horror similarly wrote: ‘The story just wasn’t impressive, and a few characters were just too annoying.’
In the lead up to the release of Lazarus, Coben spoke to Metro about how he wants viewers to binge his latest series.
He said: ‘I just want you to be caught up. I love that feeling when I’m reading a book or watching a series where I just become enamoured with it and obsessed and it’s always my hope that I give you that.’
The show’s main protagonist Claflin also described being instantly ‘hooked’ when he first read the show’s first few episodes.
He added: ‘They initially sent just one episode and I got to the end of that episode and was desperate to read another, which assured me that this was a good sign.
Harlan discusses his writing process for Lazarus
Speaking to Metro about his new haunting psychological thriller, Harlan discussed what a pleasure it is to have people want to see his work and how quickly he came up with the plot of his latest series.
‘One day I was playing tennis and I was going to my car and across the street I saw a psychiatrist’s office where I’d taken my father-in-law a few years earlier when he had severe depression,’ he says.
‘I started thinking about the psychiatrist’s office and all the misery that they hear. I thought – where does all that misery go? And then what happens when the psychiatrist dies, and that misery can come out again?
‘That’s what started it and I actually ran home, and in about an hour, I had outlined at most of the story. I’ve never had it happen to me that fast.’
To read more, click below.
‘With each episode, I needed to know what happens next. It had me hooked from the beginning.’
Meanwhile, Roach predicted that viewers will be left feeling ‘paranoid’, saying: ‘You pick up on Lazarus’s paranoia, and everything’s just a bit tilted in this world and a bit uneasy. I think that’s what audiences are going to feel when they watch it.’
Amazon Prime Video’s Lazarus is available to watch.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.