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In her surprising and disturbing Prime Video limited series “Expats,” creator, writer and director LuLu Wang focuses her lens on three American women living in Hong Kong whose lives transform into something so twisted and raw that they can no longer cover the imperfections. As in her acclaimed 2019 feature film, “The Farewell,” Wang explores grief and pain in “Expats,” based on the novel “The Expatriates” by Janice YK Lee. Yet this series, the director’s first big project since she won the Indie Spirit Award for “The Farewell,” has none of that film’s delicious melancholy. While “The Farewell” brought humor to its central character’s approach to life, “Expats” poignantly and sadly examines the circumstances under which a person deserves compassion and forgiveness.
The story is told disturbingly and slowly over the course of a year. The first two episodes allow the audience to get to know these women intimately. Margaret (an amazing Nicole Kidman) doesn’t recognize herself. Her move from New York City to the affluent Mid-Levels area of Hong Kong with her husband, Clarke (Brian Tee), and her three children has transformed her into someone she can’t connect with from the outside. all. The move slammed the door on her career as a landscape architect, leaving her yearning for something more. She spends her days hanging around her children and trying to control the envy she feels toward her assistant, Essie (Ruby Ruiz), a middle-aged Filipina who acts as nanny and housekeeper. However, after a terrible accident alters the family forever, Margaret abandons all pretense of togetherness, much less perfection. Instead, she clings to her heartache, which she finds outlet in outbursts, long baths, and fantasies of escaping her reality.
As Margaret publicly falls apart, Hilary (Sarayu Blue), her friend and neighbor, works desperately to keep the fragments of her marriage together. Hilary and her husband, David (Jack Huston), sensible and career-oriented, live a polished, childless existence, perfectly supported by her assistant, Puri (Amelyn Pardenilla). At least, that’s what it looks like from the outside (of its floor-to-ceiling windows) looking in. Hilary, a master of concealment (a skill she learned from her mother), lies to herself and David about how she imagines her future. When tragedy strikes Margaret’s home, the incident unknowingly drags Hilary headlong into her friend’s tornado of agony, causing the pieces of her healed life to fall apart.
Elsewhere in Hong Kong’s central district, 24-year-old Mercy (Ji-young Yoo), the series’ narrator, is trying to find her way. Despite having a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, Mercy, a Korean-American, moved to China to start over and distance herself from her overbearing mother. Armed with a “poor me” attitude, Mercy wanders through life, using her rich friends and catering jobs to stay afloat. However, when she makes an important decision that propels her into the orbits of Margaret and Hilary, she realizes that she can no longer blame anyone else for her poor decisions. But living with the consequences is nothing she could have prepared for.
Women are so often expected to hold everything together, and they do. However, in “Expats,” which has an all-female writers room, Margaret, Hilary and Mercy stop dabbling in illusion. Instead, they let off steam and allow all the ugly and unpleasant aspects of their circumstances to spill out. Kidman’s performance as Margaret is particularly gripping. No wonder she is devastated by a hard blow suffered by her family and she refuses to be ashamed and act like she isn’t. As heartbreaking as it is to witness her torment, it’s also comforting to see a once-enviable woman refuse to pretend that she’s okay.
Wang also explores class and privilege in “Expats.” He shows little-seen sections of Hong Kong, from night markets to luxury hotels. Meanwhile, the pro-democracy uprisings of 2014 are the backdrop to this story. The 96-minute fifth episode, “Central,” focuses on Puri, Essie and Mercy, who move between two worlds. As Hilary and Margaret’s lives fall apart in their luxurious condo building, their Filipina servants move through the gilded space and the world below, where political unrest is brewing. And the secrets shared between them could easily destroy the families they work for.
Although social status can offer protection, it can also be draining, especially for a woman. It is a cruelty that the three main characters discover simultaneously, but in very different ways. For Mercy, there is a lesson in learning that some mistakes are irreparable. Hilary must let go of the lies she has told herself to embrace a new beginning. Ultimately, Margaret must move on or risk losing herself and her family forever.
“Expats” is a dark and deeply nuanced narrative about the things women sweep under the rug and what happens when they get too tired to hide them. The series focuses on deep, visceral heartbreak, what it means to really know someone and why a woman who chooses herself over others may be the only thing that saves her in the end.
The first two episodes of “Expats” premiere January 26 on Prime Video and new episodes will be released weekly on Fridays.