The Queen’s Gambit (Spoiler-Free) Review

As I heard the rapturous reviews for Netflix’s new limited series The Queen’s Gambit (adapted from the 1983 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis) rolling out this past week, I’ll admit I wasn’t completely sold. A series about a female chess prodigy in the 1960s? Really? I mean, it’s chess. Not exactly a high intensity game and something that is notoriously hard to translate well to film. But here I am, having burned through the seven episode series in a day, singing its praises.

There’s a lot to recommend in the series, but its greatest strength comes in the form of Anya Taylor-Joy (last seen as the titular character in the recent Emma film), who stars as Beth Harmon, our chess prodigy. The Queen’s Gambit would not work without Taylor-Joy’s sensational performance. Beth isn’t a particularly likeable character – or, at least she isn’t likeable in the sense of what we expect from a female lead in a period drama. But Taylor-Joy’s performance isn’t concerned with making us like Beth or want to be Beth. Rather, often through little or no dialogue, Taylor-Joy allows us into the cloudy and shuttered mind and heart of the character. We understand when a barb wounds this young woman with seemingly impenetrable skin by the slightest twitch of Taylor-Joy’s face. We can watch each move come to Beth through Taylor-Joy’s eyes. It’s not a showy performance – largely because Beth is not a showy character – but it makes the entire series. You want Beth to succeed and grow beyond her demons, even as you watch her cut down and discard those around her on her quest to be the best. And all of that is because Taylor-Joy makes Beth a character worth rooting for.

If the show’s greatest strength is its leading lady, a close second is the character of Beth herself. While this is, first and foremost, an instance of the perfect marriage between actor and character, Beth is unlike any character I’ve seen on screen before. So often, the “tortured genius” trope is a man (almost always a cishet white man) who is forgiven time and again for the awful things he does to those in his life because he’s a genius and the world needs his talents more than it needs to recognize those he tramples over or hurts to achieve his victory. This means that the supporting characters (often the women in his life, but also men who would stop him from achieving his destined greatness) come off as partially realized characters at best, merely two-dimensional cardboard punching bags at worst. Beth, as a chess prodigy who struggles with serious trauma and addiction stemming from that trauma, certainly fits the mold of a “tortured genius.”

The series makes it clear that she is the best of the best and she is unwilling to allow the expectations of her gender, origin story, or the men in her life to dictate what she can and will achieve. But unlike those other geniuses, for whom the world bends to suit their needs, this story makes it clear that there is a cost for this attitude. Yes, Beth shouldn’t (and doesn’t) compromise simply because she’s asked to by those who lack her talent or drive, but the story juxtaposes Beth’s rise with that of Soviet chess champions – the men who do all and give all throughout their lives to reach the pinnacle of their game and then spend the rest of their lives trying to stay on top as younger upstarts emerge to take them on. Once they are dethroned, they lose everything and retreat into obscurity, simply a name that was once great but is no longer needed – the conveyor belt chess champions. This juxtaposition, which really only comes into focus in the latter half of the series, hints at the possibility of a tragic ending for Beth (outside the bounds of the series, naturally), but we are clearly meant to believe that she can pull herself out of this trajectory – that there are enough people who care about her – and not simply her talent – to save her from this fate – even if she isn’t always willing or able to accept their help when its offered. It’s quite the twist on the idea of a woman saving a “difficult” man, to have a difficult woman buoyed by those in her life, hopefully to live on without being one of the lost great geniuses.

In another twist, those life saving characters turn out to be the men in her life – romantic foils (the series never spends a great deal of time on romance for Beth – another nice choice – treating the potential romantic partners as the traditional Hollywood “girlfriend” part, there for support but not a necessity for Beth’s achievements – she does what she does through her own abilities), mentors, and rivals (some falling in more than one category throughout the course of the series). The central trio of men – Bill Camp as Mr. Shaibel, Beth’s mentor, Henry Melling as Harry Beltik, a rival turned friend, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Benny Watts, Beth’s chief American rival – are all excellent, with each character managing to walk the tightrope of recognizing Beth’s genius and refusing to be emasculated by it. It isn’t easy to craft one such character in a tale like this, but to have three (not to mention a slew of additional chess players who are able to put aside their egos and accept Beth for who she is), all of whom are multi-faceted and essential to the plot? That’s an impressive feat of writing and performance. While Taylor-Joy is the star, watching Camp, Melling, and Brodie-Sangster – all great actors in their own rights – play off her was a joy to behold. Knowing when to pull back to allow your costar to shine is a skill that is often overlooked by audiences, but each of these men was willing to do so and it made the series all the stronger for it.

With a great cast, complex and interesting characters, and a great story, The Queen’s Gambit is well worth the seven hour binge. While I found that the end doesn’t quite hit the same highs as the story leading up to it (and is the only part of the story that feels manufactured and slight), its an overall engaging tale. And Taylor-Joy is so engrossing as Beth that it’s worth the watch regardless of the show’s minor flaws. It even inspired me to play some chess, which, really, is a pretty impressive result. I highly recommend the show.