An award-winning investigative journalist is brought in to cover a story aboard a luxury yacht as it sails from the UK to Norway. One night, she believes she has witnessed a murder — but there’s no record of the victim ever having been on the boat.
Spending three days cruising among elites and potential murderers, and with no one believing her, she continues to dig for answers, putting her own life in danger. Is she losing her mind, or is something truly sinister happening on board?
While Australian filmmaker Simon Stone brings a Hitchcock-style murder mystery to life on the open sea — with heavyweight performers like Keira Knightley and Guy Pearce on board — The Woman In Cabin 10 ultimately feels like another “eat the rich” whodunnit dressed in luxury and deception.
Knightley portrays Laura “Lo” Blacklock, a well-known crime journalist recovering from a recent trauma who accepts an assignment aboard the lavish superyacht Aurora Borealis. The ship belongs to tycoon Richard Bullmer (Guy Pearce) and his ailing wife Anne (Lisa Loven Kongsli), hosting a high-profile voyage for an elite circle of guests.
One night, Laura hears a splash and what sounds like a scream. From her balcony, she believes she sees someone from Cabin 10 being pushed overboard. When she alerts the crew and security, she’s stunned to learn that the cabin is empty — and that no one was ever checked into it.
To give you an idea, The Woman In Cabin 10 is essentially a modern-day riff on Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938), built around the same concept of a vanished person no one else remembers. It also echoes Murder On The Orient Express (2017), Death On The Nile (2022) and Rear Window (1954), each using a contained setting where a supposed murder unfolds and the eyewitness’s credibility is questioned.
The premise itself remains timeless — a claustrophobic mystery surrounded by privilege and paranoia, and Stone makes good use of that setup in the film’s first half.
The movie begins with promise, taking its time to establish Laura’s fragile psyche and the opulent yet isolating world aboard the yacht.
Production design is stunning — sleek, metallic and sterile, with the Aurora Borealis itself becoming an additional character. The film’s primary theme, gaslighting, is effectively handled. It keeps the audience guessing about what Laura really saw and whether her trauma is clouding her perception.
I genuinely bought into Laura’s belief that she had witnessed something horrific. The script keeps multiple possibilities in play — was there truly a murder, or just a figment of a traumatised imagination? That uncertainty drives the intrigue for much of the runtime.
But character depth quickly becomes the film’s biggest weakness. Laura is the only character the script allows us to truly know, and even then, only superficially. Everyone else on board remains a cypher — rich, self-absorbed and conveniently suspicious. This helps to maintain mistrust among the guests, but it also renders them forgettable.
The supporting cast — including talented performers — barely register, popping in and out of scenes without meaningful development. At just 92 minutes, the film would have benefited immensely from at least 15 more minutes to let us observe these passengers, deepen the mystery and raise the emotional stakes.
Visually, The Woman In Cabin 10 is a pleasure to look at. The cinematography takes advantage of confined corridors and tight framing to heighten tension and claustrophobia. The gleaming interiors and reflective surfaces amplify the feeling that everyone is being watched.
Despite the film’s initially gripping setup, the final act sinks under its own predictability. What begins as a layered conspiracy dissolves into formulaic thriller territory, with revelations that feel rushed and disappointingly neat. The finale removes all sense of creativity and surprise, opting instead for a quick, safe resolution.
I really wanted to enjoy this more — the premise had potential for deeper misdirection and psychological unease — but every time the story seems ready to take a risk, it retreats to cliché. The tension deflates just when it should have reached its peak.
The performances, thankfully, remain solid throughout. Knightley delivers a commanding and emotionally grounded performance, carrying the film through moments that might otherwise collapse under their own implausibility. She gives Laura a believable mix of determination and fragility, and it’s her conviction that keeps the story afloat.
Pearce, though underused, provides a touch of gravitas, while the rest of the ensemble, unfortunately, is given little to do. It’s a waste of talent that could have turned the film’s yacht-bound setting into a bubbling pot of intrigue.
You’ve seen this type of ride before — a mystery built on familiar scaffolding, twists you can spot if you’ve been paying attention, and a few convenient scenes that exist purely to move the plot forward.
And yet, Knightley keeps you watching. Her presence alone almost redeems the film’s shortcomings, making you forget the clichés just long enough to see it through. When the ending arrives, it manages to leave a faint sense of satisfaction — not because it surprises, but because Knightley’s performance makes it feel earned. Without her, this would have been another forgettable Netflix thriller lost at sea.
Over the years, I’ve admired how Knightley has worked hard to break away from her early-2000s romantic comedy image, embracing darker and more mature material — from Boston Strangler (2023) to last year’s Black Doves. Unfortunately, those projects didn’t quite give her the standout showcase she deserves. The Woman In Cabin 10 continues that trend — she’s great, but the film surrounding her isn’t.
The twists and turns in The Woman In Cabin 10 arrive too quickly and with little buildup. The unravelling of the mystery feels mechanical rather than organic, and when the reveal comes, you can’t help but feeling somewhat unsatisfied. Implausibilities stack up, and emotional logic gives way to convenience. Still, for a weekend watch, it’s a serviceable 90 minutes ride. I give it an extra star just for Knightley.
The Woman In Cabin 10
Starring Keira Knightley, Guy Pearce, David Ajala, Art Malik
Directed by Simon Stone
Now streaming on Netflix