‘Deadloch’ – Review
It’s always exciting when a new release arrives on Prime Video and if you’re looking for a riotously good time and are seeking an equal mixture of crime and comedy then look no further than Deadloch.
When a local man turns up dead on a beach, two vastly different detectives are thrown together to solve the case. Deadloch puts a high-comedy spin on the crime genre and questions Australia’s relationship with truth, gender, and race, while keeping you guessing (and laughing) at every turn.
Developed by creators Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, Deadloch is a hilarious new murder-mystery comedy miniseries that concerns a shocking series of murders that fall upon the sleepy town of Deadloch, Tasmania, and the resulting police procedural that follows. But if you’re expecting your usual police crime thriller, well watch out, because Deadloch takes the classic police procedural genre and throws in one hell of a spanner in the form of the series co-leads Kate Box and Madeleine Sami. Forget what you think you’re expecting because this series cranks up the hi-jinks and you won’t be able to hold back your laughter as the bodies pile up, and the strangest-ever police investigation rolls out.
As the series lead, Kate Box stars as local police inspector Dulcie Collins, a former detective who has left the big city for a quieter life in Deadloch. While her normal duties include corralling drunks, maintaining marine control and seeing about the local sea lion, her world is soon turned upside down as a vicious murder occurs on the beachhead, and she’s soon facing an epidemic of bodies. Calling for resources she lands as a partner Detective Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami), an outlandishly vulgar, uncouth, loudmouthed and abrasive police detective who can’t wait to get away from the sleepy port of Deadloch and who is all too keen to find the simplest solution to the murders. Hilarity ensues at every moment, and this twisting murder mystery will have you in hysterics as the investigation gets underway.
Box and Sami make a great pair as Dulcie and Eddie, and laughs don’t let up for a minute. As the ‘straight woman’ of this odd couple pairing, Box’s Dulcie is desperately trying to do everything by the book, and minute by minute things begin to get weirder and weirder and the quiet little town of Deadloch begins to unleash its secrets. Adding to the weirdness of the series is Madeleine Sami who is an utter scene stealer as Detective Eddie Redcliffe, and whose very ‘loud’ approach to police work will have you in stitches. There’s absolutely no filter on Sami’s Eddie and the outbursts that occur lead to pure comedy gold.
Deadloch is a series that takes quite a risk with its subject matter and narrative, and it pays off in every way possible. It’s an intriguing series that will pull you in and its character-centred narrative, intriguing murder mystery and laugh-out-loud hilarity make this series a must-watch for Prime Video viewers.
Deadloch is now streaming on Prime Video.
Image: Prime Video