56 Days review: Dove Cameron and Avan Jogia's restrained performances elevate this passable murder mystery

Created by Lisa Zwerling and Karyn Usher, Amazon Prime Video's 56 Days is a familiar whodunit with interesting turns and twists.  

There’s nothing like a chilling whodunit that explores the complexity of a human brain and the extent to which human passion can wander in search of closure. Amazon Prime’s latest offering 56 Days, attempts to do the same while spicing it up with both suspense and seduction in equal measures. Based on Catherine Ryan Howard’s bestselling novel, the show comes across as a serviceable murder mystery saga that is neither fully immersive nor completely missable. 

Revising the story from its original lockdown premise in Dublin to present-day Boston, the series, unfolding within two timelines, follows Oliver Kennedy (Avan Jogia), and Ciara Wyse (Dove Cameron), who, after meeting randomly in a supermarket, fall for each other in a jiffy and move into Oliver’s luxurious apartment. However, fifty-six days later, cops find an intentionally decomposed body in the flat’s bathtub, propelling a full-blown investigation regarding the identity of the corpse. The series follows a template revenge plot with consistent twists that offer enough to hold your interest throughout the 8-episode series, each spanning 40-45 minutes. 

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The murder mystery opens with the Boston police finding some completely rotten leftovers of a dead body floating in Oliver’s chemical-filled bathtub. The messy apartment, the gore, and the intense background score do a fine job in intriguing and introducing the viewer to the deceitful world of the show. After the disturbing prelude, we are introduced to our protagonists, Oliver, a wealthy architect, and Ciara, who instantly connect over their shared interest in astronomy at a fancy grocery store. Their passionate affair, marked by steamy romance however, spirals into toxicity and mistrust as the two discover each other’s secrets. At first, Oliver is presented as a mentally unstable and mercurial brat, however, the suspense intensifies as it is revealed that Ciara had been bluffing about her identity and intentions all along. Each revelation of the past directs the present course of investigation as detectives Karl Connolly (Dorian Missick) and Lee Reardon (Karla Souza) try to solve the mystery, grappling with the miasma of the evidence at hand. What follows next is a series of psychological games and manipulation between the two protagonists that leaves even the audience unsure of whom to root for. 

The visual texture of 56 Days adds to the mystery and intrigue value of the erotic crime thriller. Largely unfolding in Oliver’s aesthetic apartment, the space works wonders as a romantic setting as well as a chilling crime scene with red herrings all over! The narration, despite being tightly paced, at times lacks the cohesion and evenness required to balance the romantic and investigative angles equally. Besides, the time spent on long emotional confessions and breakdowns, except for the ones featuring the leads, serve as unnecessary speed breakers for the otherwise taut narration.  

Dove Cameron and Avan Jogia share impressive chemistry in the show. The explicit love-making scenes are handled in a classy fashion that conveys the raw passion between the gorgeous-looking couple. Besides, Cameron and Jogia shine individually too, as complex characters who have a lot to hide. While Jogia is stunning in his portrayal of Oliver’s intensity and a personality impacted by insomnia and constant anxiety, Cameron delivers a restrained performance as the doe-eyed, manipulating girlfriend and a cold strategist, Ciara, which comes across as a delightful departure from her popular image of playing affable Disney characters. 

Overall, 56 Days weaves together stylish narration, erotic romance, and psychological thriller elements into the murder mystery that is undone by its straightforward pay-off and over-familiar character arcs.  

56 Days is now streaming on Prime Video