The Day of the Jackal: Serialized Escapism At Its Best

The Day of the Jackal is a gripping, tense drama that will keep you on the edge of your seat-and rooting for The Jackal.

Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 thriller about a British assassin hired by disgruntled French conspirators to assassinate Charles de Gaulle was a monster hit. A 1973 film version starring Edward Fox stayed faithful to the book, whilst a 1997 loose retelling was less successful. Years later, Sky Studios decided to give it their best go with a TV miniseries.

The Plot:
In this version, a German populist politician is assassinated with a record-breaking sniper shot. An MI6 agent named Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch) looks into the case, and soon becomes drawn into the world of the infamous Jackal (Eddie Redmayne), a world-class assassin, master of disguise and expert sniper. The Jackal is soon hired to assassinate UDC (Khalid Abdalla), a brilliant billionaire whose plan to make the finances of the world’s elite transparent makes them uncomfortable. It’s up to Bianca and her allies to stop the Jackal before he strikes.

The main players:

The Jackal (Eddie Redmayne)- A world-class sniper and assassin whose mastery of disguises makes him incognito. He demands a high fee- and doesn’t like to be stiffed. The Jackal is ruthless and efficient, yet shows a soft side as ‘Charles Calthrop’ to his unknowing wife and son. His past and identity are a complete mystery to all but him.

Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch)- An MI6 agent whose work as an arms expert sees her pulled into the Jacka’s investigation. She is married with a daughter, and her work puts a strain on her family life due to her family not knowing her job.

Ulle Dag Charles/UDC (Khalid Abdalla)- A brilliant billionaire who plans to release ‘River,’ a software system that will release the elite’s riches for all the world to see.

Nuria- (Úrsula Corberó)- The Jackal’s Spanish wife with whom he enjoys a loving marriage.

Timothy Winthrop (Charles Dance)- An extremely wealthy man who does not like UDC’s plans.

Isabel Kirby (Lia Williams)- Bianca’s boss and MI6 Deputy Chief of Staff.

Osita Halcrow (Chukwudi Iwuji)- A senior MI6 official and ally of Bianca.

Vincent Pyne (Nick Blood)- An MI6 protection officer and old friend of Bianca.

Zina Jansone (Eleanor Mastuura)- The go-between for the Jackal and his clients.

The Review:

What. A. Series.

The Day of the Jackal is easily one of the best series of recent years. It was announced before the series finished that there’d be another one — no surprise, considering the record viewership and glowing reviews. It has amazing action scenes packed with quiet moments of drama, interesting characters and intrigue.

A special shoutout goes to Eddie Redmayne as the titular Jackal. One would not imagine the soft-spoken, polite Eton-educated actor who gave us Newt Scamander would be able to pass as the ruthless assassin. Redmayne, however, goes above and beyond. He blends in as effortlessly as character, giving you a sense of unease and foreboding whilst also coming across as the most ordinary man. He flicks between devoted family man and ruthless killer with so much ease that you wonder if he’s truly an assassin in real life. He’s already been nominated for several awards and he deserves them all.

Ultimately, he makes you root for him. The Jackal and Redmayne are so charismatic, competent and cool that a quick look at social media sees the masses cheering for his victory. I was no exception — he’s just so fascinating that you can’t help but want him to succeed, despite his evil.

It’s a weaker outing for our goodie Bianca. From the beginning, viewers disliked Bianca and critcised her actress. Whilst I do not think that Lashana Lynch was a bad actor by any metric, I just did not care for her character. Much was made of her juggling her role with family life, but I simply did not care about it. They could have cut out her husband and daughter and I would have probably thought better of it. She is unable to pull off that intensity that Redmayne is effortless as.

The other actors are pulling their weight. Úrsula Corberó plays the Jackal’s wife well- she is not a wet blanket, but a fully fleshed character with an interesting relationship with her nosey mother and lazy brother. The MI6 characters are realistic as snooty government officials, Charles Dance is a delight as a Tywin Lannister-type rich man, Khalid Abdalla is convincing as the eccentric but well-meaning billionaire, and Eleanor Mastuura is a very cool liaison between Redmayne and Dance.

Another great part is that it is not good v bad. The Jackal is of course a ruthless assassin, but shows devotion to his family. Bianca may be on the side of MI6, but she is willing to do some shady stuff to get her man.

Is it unrealistic? Of course. The Jackal gets out of many situations that make you say ‘really?’ but that is the beauty of it. It’s escapism, set in beautiful locations such as Cadiz and Croatia. The Jackal is a very well-travelled man, and Bianca gets good use of her passport.

The ending sets up Season 2 very nicely. The Day of the Jackal is not yet over.