This off-kilter thriller from the creators of Baptiste and The Missing, may feel like a Western with road movie tropes, but also sits squarely in Coen Brothers country. Trying to pressgang The Tourist into any traditional genre soon becomes an exercise in futility, as events begin to escalate quite quickly. Quirky encounters and an opening straight out of Steven Spielberg’s Duel, only manages to set the tone for five minutes, before another leftfield addition takes audiences elsewhere. Thankfully free from the constraints of a cohesive plot, Harry and Jack Williams pull together their disparate plot points into a story which feels genuinely organic.
As the eponymous man, Jamie Dornan excels in plugging himself straight into this ramshackle aesthetic, maintaining both mystique and momentum effortlessly. Going from car crash victim to would-be fugitive, this man with no name finds himself pursed half way across Australia, in a series which takes its time getting to the point. Helped in no small measure by Danielle Macdonald as local constable Helen Chamber, The Tourist taps into Coen Brothers touchstone Fargo, as well as lifting language liberally from their own unique back catalogue.
Tonally the shifts between comedy and thriller are deftly handled, making The Tourist an extremely engaging piece of television. Strong support from Shalom Brune-Franklin’s Luci, as partial accomplice and erstwhile love interest is welcome, while Olaf Darri Olafsson offers up a mountainous distraction as Billy, who wants to find our protagonist for completely different reasons.
However, beyond those tangible elements a second must be put aside for composer Dominik Scheer, who adds crucial atmospherics through his music. Using incidental piano accompaniment, snippets from syncopated strings, as well as brooding percussion, Dominik lifts this thriller into a different league. Combined with the visuals that depict a bleak and barren dust bowl tundra, where locals possess their own sunny disposition, The Tourist sets out to embrace something different.
If Taika Waititi made a Coen Brothers pastiche, then this may well be the end result, as comedic sensibilities and quirky perspectives clash. In this universe, dry wit and a laidback approach to life supersedes anything life threatening, as a series of unfortunate events culminates with law enforcement on the lamb, and more than a few dead bodies. As this intriguing domino effect continues and revelations come thick and fast, The Tourist loses none of its momentum, but instead becomes more cohesive.
In a strange way that is what audiences will discover as this tangled web continues to play out over time. Not only does the man with no name cease to be The Tourist in this equation, but more important than that, this series is guaranteed to keep them guessing until the final frame.
The Tourist is available on HBO Max on March 8th.