SHARDLAKE Review: Secrets and Fears in Not So Merry Old England

Murder most foul! In a monastery. How do you investigate in a hostile environment?

Shardlake
The four-episode series premieres Wednesday, May 1, on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ in select territories. I've seen all four episodes.

As Shardlake unfurled, I couldn't help but think of Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose (1986), starring Sean Connery as a Franciscan friar investigating a mysterious death at an Italian abbey in the 14th century, with Christian Slater as his helper and F. Murray Abraham as an antagonistic character.

In Shardlake Arthur Hughes stars as a barrister investigating a mysterious death at an English monastery in the 16th century, with Anthony Boyle as his helper and Sean Bean as Thomas Cromwell, the chief minister to King Henry VII. The person who died by sword was one of Cromwell's commissioners.

Cromwell charges Matthew Shardlake (Hughes) with finding the culprit, which will give him the legal basis to shut down the monastery and thereby gain all the riches that they have accumulated. For the King, of course, in order to support the government, which was badly in need of more funding.

Cromwell sends along Jack Barak (Boyle), primarily to keep an eye on Shardlake and hurry along the investigation, using whatever means he deems necessary. Because the strong-willed character is played magnificently by Anthony Boyle, who has mightily impressed in his recent turns in Masters of the Air and Manhunt as John Wilkes Booth (both for Apple TV+), I found his dynamic performance to be incredibly distracting from following the case.

Arthur Hughes' Shardlake is not, however, some fading willow in the field, even though his character was born with physical defects. He does not allow his imperfections to define him; instead, he is a seeker of righteous truth and justice.

Initially, Shardlake is firmly on the King and Cromwell's side on the need for the monasteries to be dissolved. The people are not in favor of what the King wants to do; naturally, the monastery is not, either, and so Shardlake faces a hostile situation from the moment he arrives.

Stephen Butchard wrote all four episodes, adapting C.J. Sansom's novel, which was first published in 2003 and kicked off a series of Matthew Shardlake mysteries, seven in all. (As it happens, Sansom just died.) The narrative is solid and meaty, mostly because it allows for the series to reveal life in that time period and to consider what it might have been like to investigate a murder in an entirely hostile environment.

Justin Chadwick, who previously helmed The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) and Becoming Elizabeth (2022), also set in the Tudor Era, directs with vigor, reinforcing his affinity for the period. Nick Palmer's excellent, lived-in production design and Bartholomew Cariss' brilliant, not-too-fussy costume design are often covered up by Felix Cramer's shadowy cinematography, yet we always see what we need to see, and the focus remains on the characters.

As to the mystery itself: it's fine. In general, I'm not the swiftest when it comes to solving televised murder mysteries, but even I could figure out the likely culprit before it was revealed. The other elements, however -- the excellent performances by all in the cast, the writing and directing, and all the below-the-line work -- makes it enjoyable to watch. If it's not quite a 'must-binge-now' series, it still falls comfortably into the category of "ooh, I want to watch more as soon as I can."