A ‘House of Guinness’ Star Gives an Unforgettable Performance in This Twisty, Haunting Apple TV Thriller

Louis Partridge is fast becoming one of Hollywood’s most impressive newcomers. His breakthrough role was as the mysterious Tewkesbury in Netflix’s Enola Holmes in 2020, and he reprised that role in the sequel that was released in 2022. But Partridge is capable of so much more than traditional YA fare.

The actor took on an incredibly different challenge for the television miniseries, Pistol, in which he played rock icon, Sid Vicious. And now, Partridge is showing off his talents in Netflix’s recent historical hit series, House of Guinness. But there’s one other project that Partridge has appeared in that truly displays his star power: Apple TV’s Disclaimer.

What Is Apple TV’s ‘Disclaimer’ About?

Catherine (Cate Blanchett) looking over her shoulder and burning a book over the sink in Disclaimer.Image via Netflix

Disclaimer is a seven-episode limited series that debuted in October 2024 on Apple TV. It was written and directed by the brilliant Alfonso Cuarón, and is based on a book of the same title by Renée Knight. The story follows a well-renowned journalist and documentary filmmaker named Catherine Ravenscroft (played in flashbacks by Leila George and in the present-day timeline by Cate Blanchett). Catherine has a loving and wealthy husband, Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen), and an aimless adult son, Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who lacks Catherine’s ambition. Catherine seemingly has everything until her world gets torn upside down when she receives a book at her home that depicts some mysterious events from when Catherine was younger.

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‘Disclaimer’ Told Us What Kind of Show It Was From the Start

Beware of narrative and form.

On a trip to Italy 20 years before, Catherine connected with a young British man named Jonathan Brigstocke (Partridge) and the book portrays their romantic tryst. Catherine was married at the time, and will do anything to keep these events under wraps. But the person who sent over the book is none other than Jonathan’s father, Stephen (Kevin Kline), who is still holding a major grudge against Catherine. He’s threatening to go public with her story. The question becomes a matter of will: can Catherine keep her past hidden, or will Stephen actually be able to bring it into the light after all this time?

Apple TV’s ‘Disclaimer’ Is a Dark and Twisted Psychological Thriller

From the beginning, the viewer can tell that Disclaimer will be a wild ride. The story shifts back and forth with alternating timelines between the vacation in Italy to the present day. This lends a tension that increases between each jump in time. The more we learn about the events in Italy, the more complicated the events in the present become. Aside from this storytelling method, Disclaimer also includes shifting perspectives between characters. We get to hear from all of these characters in first-person narration, which makes the storytelling even more twisty. All of these characters fit the bill of an unreliable narrator, but we’re just not sure which version of events is the factual one. As the timeline, both past and present, unravels, the mystery of these characters and what they’ve experienced unfolds, creating episodes that are both suspenseful and psychologically fascinating.

Even if Disclaimer were told in a merely straightforward way, there are still other gripping aspects of the series to keep you on the edge of your seat. Cuarón is a four-time Oscar winner and has brought us incredible films such as Y tu mamá también, Gravity, and Roma. His haunting aesthetic helps to bring both the England and Italy backdrops to life in the series, and it’s always clear which timeline is taking place because of the creative and distinct use of color and tone. It’s no surprise that Cuarón helped Disclaimer land an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography. Between the production design, costumes, and lighting, every detail makes Disclaimer feel like a world that you’ve been sucked into, in all of its dysfunction, chaos, and pain. Even the score by Finneas O’Connell helps each aspect of the storytelling to create an incredibly compelling vibe as you race towards finding out the truth behind the events of Disclaimer.

‘Disclaimer’s Louis Partridge Thrives in a Deeply Complex Role

Louis Partridge as Jonathan holding his camera up to his eye on the beach in Rome in DisclaimerImage via Apple TV+

Very early in the series we learn that Partridge’s character, Jonathan, meets a tragic fate. But we also get to see Jonathan live out his dream vacation through flashbacks. This lends a heartbreaking edge to all of his scenes. It’s easy to appreciate how a young man would be spreading his wings on this type of trip. Partridge ensures that we always feel Jonathan’s light-hearted spirit, but at the same time, he illustrates how this character also contains many secrets that we’re not privy to right away. By the end of the series, we learn much more about Jonathan, and Partridge ends up helping us to see another side to this character that is absolutely shocking and masterfully portrayed. Partridge has to play a whole host of personalities depending on who is reminiscing about him — from playful and charming to mercurial and mysterious — and he does all of this while making it look effortless.

Partridge joins a cast of plenty of heavy hitters, including Blanchett and Kline. Blanchett, who nabbed an Emmy nomination for her role, is outstanding as a woman who finds her perfect life slipping through her fingers because of past events that she’d rather not think about ever again. Kline takes on a very different part than some of the comedic roles he’s portrayed. His depiction of Stephen is unhinged in his quest for revenge, and his grief has taken on a twisted and focused tinge of rage. Lesley Manville is also incredible as Stephen’s wife and Jonathan’s devoted mother. The loss she’s endured makes her shrink and fade, and Manville is able to effectively take us straight into this woman’s massive distress. Although these characters don’t all interact with each other in the same timeline, they all work to create an intense framework of trauma and pain.

Each role in this underseen series comes with its own baggage and dark secrets, and Partridge nails that aura of unpredictability and intrigue. We learn more about Jonathan in each episode, and by the last frame, we finally get the full picture of his life story. The way the action unfolds will have you glued to your screen. Even with two Emmy nominations and some word-of-mouth buzz, it’s surprising that this series wasn’t seen by more people. You can rectify that now, and be able to say you watched one of his truly terrific projects early on in his career.

Disclaimer (2024) Official Poster

Release Date

2024 – 2024-00-00

Directors

Alfonso Cuarón

Writers

Alfonso Cuarón