In a sea of mediocre family melodramas and slightly stale satires, Ripley rises to the top with style. This new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s famed novel The Talented Mr. Ripley takes the familiar story in an entirely different direction from other versions. No, this series doesn’t have the sun-soaked sex appeal of ’60s Alain Delon or ‘90s Jude Law, but it’s not terribly interested in that. Rather than focus on lavish European locales or the beautiful people who populate them, the show puts all of its attention on its titular con-man.

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The story that Ripley tells is probably one you know already, if not from prior adaptations then from its recent quasi-redux in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn. Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott) is a skilled grifter in New York City, but his luck is on the verge of running out courtesy of the IRS. Luckily, he’s about to come into some money—the prodigal son of a shipbuilding magnate, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), has been........

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