Element of Doubt

Element of Doubt is an ITV crime thriller which is a twist on Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion.

Beth (Gina McKee) is a schoolteacher, she detests her wealthy stepmother. She is also married to the charming Richard (Nigel Havers.) Beth is his second wife, he was previously married to a glamourous wife in South Africa who made some serious accusations against her ex husband.

He is involved in a business venture with Kirk (Michael Jayston.) The latter suspects that Richard is going to usurp him on a land deal that he was meant to be negotiating on Kirk's behalf.

Indeed Richard has gone rogue. He needs to raise the cash soon to buy the land outright in his own name.

Beth has been suspicious previously about her husband. He might be cheating on her, he has a habit of disappearing suddenly. Richard has had previous failed business ventures.

When Beth's stepmother dies in a car accident. Beth suspects that Richard was involved somehow in staging it. Now she has inherited her stepmother's money, Beth fears that she will be his next victim.

As a television movie, this was badly paced. It starts off slowly but Havers plays Richard as a plausible rogue who might just have the best of intentions for Beth.

It does pick up a pace after Richard shows his real colours but by then it gets too far fetched. It is never that thrilling.

This film is either a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's film Suspicion, starring Joan Fontaine, Cary Grant and Nigel Bruce, or else has merely borrowed heavily from the plot. Many of the scenes are similar, (even the husband's nickname for his wife is the same) The ending is darker though.

i thought this was a pretty good story - decently put together. there were a few inconsistencies, but the acting was good. i thought the flip in the middle was interesting. and there is pretty decent suspense - i was never too sure what was going to happen.

Element Of Doubt is a movie that surprised me from the start, as I was quickly engrossed in this "Will he or won't he?" mystery about a woman who is CONVINCED that her husband is trying to kill her. He of course dismisses it, and she's wondering if she's going crazy, but soon, more and more clues abound, and she's wondering more and more.

Sounds amazing so far, and it is! Nigel Havers is great in that normal fellow sort of way that you don't really suspect him, and that his wife played by Polly Adams, who is getting more paranoid by the minute, is just acting delirious.

Unfortunately, it's twist mid-conclusion, mini-mystery after that and it's somewhat rushed ending left me going "WHAT?" So great for the first 3/4, muddled after that. Too bad.

Unpredictable and quite scary horror/thriller, clearly inspired by Hitchcock's "Suspicion". An exciting story, superb acting and distinct direction highlights this inspiring tale of terror. My verdict: 7 out of 10.