The film follows Lo (Keira Knightley), a journalist who is covering on a maiden voyage of a luxury yacht. Early on, she believes she sees someone thrown overboard – but her concerns are brushed off given that every member of the crew and the guests are all accounted for.
The suspected murder mystery (which has all the trappings of an Agatha Christie work) also sees Lo reunited with her ex-boyfriend, Ben (David Ajala).
Ben is a photographer, there to capture the splendour of the trip, and initially sits on the fence about helping Lo follow her “journalist instincts” due to her lack of evidence. But one of the most shocking moments comes when he finally picks a side, which has deadly consequences for him.
“I think it was a wonderfully surprising moment to read,” Ajala explained to RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview.
“Because without judging the character, I was very taken by how this guy became the sacrificial lamb for this lady. I love seeing when characters are revealed in their actions and that was such a massive thing to do.”
He added: “I don’t think Ben weighed up the weight of the sacrifice as he was in it, but he made a decision to do it and commit to it for Lo. [It happens so quickly] so you don’t have time to process, but you see the conviction that he has to go, ‘I’m doing this for the better good.’ But then it is bittersweet because there’s nothing heroic about it because he doesn’t win.”
Ajala’s co-star Guy Pearce, who plays the billionaire philanthropist Richard, added: “You’re going to get so many more fans after this… But our audience then within the translation of it, they then get to feel the loss of you.”
Ajala was interested to explore a character who “operates in a very grey area” who is both with the wealthy, but disconnected from their world at the same time.
Meanwhile, Pearce was “fascinated” by Richard as a billionaire who carries a “number of secrets” but has a “relaxed way” about him.
“The idea of greed and this idea of once you have money, then you want more and you don’t want to let go of what you’ve got, and it corrupts your sense of compassion and empathy etc, that stuff I’m interested in,” Pearce explained. “And I’m interested in playing a character like this who perhaps once upon a time was a more empathetic and thoughtful and considerate human being.
“But in the nature of where he’s got to at this point in his life, he’s grabbed onto something that’s seemingly working for [him] and he doesn’t want to let that go. I feel like I see that a lot.
“That’s why the world is the way that it is, that greedy people just get greedier and richer people just get richer, the imbalance of that is fascinating to me and it was interesting to play a character that embodies that.”
The Woman in Cabin 10 is now streaming on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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