Malice review: The new thriller that feeds our ‘eat the rich’ obsession

The Independent

The past few years have seen a wave of razor-sharp class satires. From Saltburn to The White Lotus, it seems we can’t get enough of watching the ultra-wealthy get their comeuppance.This week on Streamline, we dive into Malice, Prime Video’s six-part thriller about the wealthy Tanner family whose idyllic Greek holiday unravels when they’re terrorised by their charming “manny,” played by Jack Whitehall.We explore why this latest “eat the rich” tale is primed to be your next TV obsession, and why stories that take aim at the one per cent remain so irresistible.

Transcript

00:00This is Streamline, your weekly guide to what's happening in the world of TV, film, and everything

00:04in between. If you're looking for your next obsession, look no further than Malice, Prime

00:09Video's six-part psychological thriller about a wealthy family's idyllic Greek holiday, gone very,

00:14very wrong. Jack Whitehall stars as Adam, the deranged Manny determined to infiltrate and

00:21destroy the Tanners from the inside out. Spoiler alert, he's a bit unhinged. Jack Whitehall playing

00:26a villain wasn't on my 2025 bingo card either. He's best known for stand-up and for comedies

00:31like Bad Education and Fresh Meat. I mean, he'll never not be JP to me.

00:38Considering this is his first serious dramatic role, he handles the darker material surprisingly

00:43well. So if you're here for Jack in his villain era, or if you're just here for the thirst traps,

00:49there's something for everyone.

00:50I've been lucky enough to work with Jack a few times and have always believed that there was a great

00:55dramatic role for him to do. Obviously, he's incredibly well known for comedy, comedy acting

00:59as well as his stand-up, but there is a sort of rich tradition of comedians playing straight

01:05roles, comedians playing baddies, and I know Jack well enough to think there was a someone

01:09though. In fact, there was a side of him. Side of him, the empty void inside of him hadn't

01:13been put on camera.

01:15So what fun it would be, and how interesting it would be, to really play a charming, a properly

01:21charming sociopath, bring down a wealthy family.

01:25It also stars Agent Mulder, sorry, I mean David Duchovny, as a brash, boorish venture capitalist

01:32and patriarch of the Tanner family. Who knew there was a world where this

01:35Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials?

01:38could co-exist with this.

01:39Which side of the road do you drive on?

01:41Right, left, right, right.

01:42But honestly, it weirdly works.

01:44If you can't bear the long, agonising wait until White Lotus Season 4, the rumours are true,

01:49it will be set in the French Riviera.

01:51And Malice will definitely scratch the same edge. It's bingeable, subtly funny and a little

01:56bit sexy.

01:57But the White Lotus comparisons don't stop there. Malice is the latest in a long line

02:01of eat the rich tales that gleefully dismantle the 1%.

02:05Why do you think audiences take so much pleasure in watching rich people suffer?

02:09Because it's so much fun, Chan, get it!

02:13We're at this really crucial moment where everyone can see inequality. It's not hidden

02:18anymore. The data's everywhere. People are fed up. And this is resentment I think that builds when

02:24people recognise there being systematically denied opportunities and resources that should be

02:29available to them.

02:30It's a narrative we've seen again and again over the past few years. I mean, just look at White Lotus.

02:35It's not enough to watch Timothy Ratcliffe have a full-on panic attack through the whole of Season 3.

02:40We want to believe that unhappiness lies beneath the riches. That the super rich are no cleverer,

02:45happier or better than the rest of us.

02:47We're not supposed to tell my family, we're poor now and daddy's going to prison.

02:51There is a bit of a vogue at the moment for seeing wealthy families being brought down.

02:57Perhaps because of the incredible polarisation of our world these days. Perhaps there's a sense of,

03:02there's a very, very wide gap between rich and poor in a lot of countries these days and it's only got wider.

03:09People have always liked stories where wrongs are redressed and especially where it's people who

03:16have undeserved wealth. And so I think there is something gratifying about seeing

03:21wealthy people brought down when they deserve it.

03:24The same goes for the entitlement in the menu, the stupidity in Glass Onion and the sheer

03:29unbridled misery in Triangle of Sadness. We're invited to envy, hate and pity these people all at once.

03:37People love to consume all these aesthetics of wealth, you know,

03:40the gorgeous houses, the fabulous clothes like and the white lotus,

03:44while having this superior feeling because you're watching rich people be awful and get their comeuppers.

03:52So there's, again, there's a dual thing happening here.

03:57There's clearly a growing appetite for anti-capitalist narratives.

04:00No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.

04:03On TikTok alone, hashtag eat the rich currently has over 850 million views.

04:09But if anti-capitalism is trending and the studios are cashing in,

04:14then really how biting can the satire be?

04:16I think if we see them maybe as a starting point rather than an endpoint,

04:20I think they can become and create vocabulary for talking about class that we otherwise don't have.

04:27That feeling of resentment without direction just festers.

04:31I think it could either dissipate into nothing or get directed at the wrong targets.

04:37But at the same time, we shouldn't really expect these films to do that, right?

04:40This TV series, that's not their job necessarily.

04:44Malice may not spark any revolutions, but it's a glossy, addictive watch that knows exactly what it is.

04:50If you've got room for more, here are my top three eat the rich films.

04:54First up, we have Saltburn.

04:56Now, I know some people have some very big feelings about this.

05:00Critics argue that Emerald Fennell, Oxford Educated,

05:04daughter of a high society jeweller, boarding school alum alongside Kate Middleton,

05:09and funnily enough, Jack Whitehall, is not the person to satirise the upper class.

05:14And honestly, fair.

05:15But I'm a bit of a Saltburn apologist.

05:18This film never fails to entertain me from start to finish.

05:21It looks gorgeous.

05:22And a fully-nude Barry dancing around his conquest's mansion?

05:27Cinema.

05:27Oh, but darling, you're kind about everyone.

05:30You can't be trusted.

05:31Maybe I have rose-tinted specs, because this is Emerald's next project.

05:39And honestly, the less said about this, the better.

05:44At number two, we have Begonia.

05:46And honestly, go and see this film immediately while it is still in cinemas.

05:51It's a dark comedy thriller about two cousins who kidnap the CEO of a pharmaceutical company,

05:56convinced she's an alien.

05:57It's the fourth collab between Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos,

06:00and it's easily my favorite.

06:02Lanthimos also directed The Killing of a Sacred Deer,

06:05which also sees a troubled Barry Keoghan dismantle a wealthy family from within.

06:09Begonia shows the absurdity of class struggle and asks,

06:12who's really crazy? The CEO exploiting the planet?

06:16Or the conspiracy theorist trying to thwart her?

06:18That was really good.

06:19My pulse is racing right now.

06:21Coming in hard at number one is Parasite.

06:24It's a South Korean dark comedy thriller about a poor family, the Kins,

06:28who systematically infiltrate the household of the wealthy Park family.

06:31Now, for me, Parasite is a perfect film.

06:35It made history as the first non-English language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars,

06:39and the New York Times named it as the best film of the 21st century.

06:42It's a razor-sharp examination of class struggle that perfectly blends dark comedy,

06:47tragedy and horror.

06:49Which Eat the Rich story tops your list?

06:51Let us know in the comments and we'll be back with more recommendations,

06:54memes and gossip for you next week.

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