Obituary is an Irish, black-comedy series created and written by Ray Lawlor and directed by John Hayes and Oonagh Kearney. It was released in the UK by Netflix this year.
The series follows main character Elvira Clancy [Siobhán Cullen], an obituarist for a local paper named The Kilraven Chronicle. When her manager, Hughie [David Ganly], begins to pay his staff per article, she finds herself needing to make ends meet to support her and her father, Ward [Michael Smiley] – thus, she starts murdering townspeople in order to write more obituaries.
I was really attracted to the series’ premise as I love dark comedy, and especially horror comedy. However, I quickly discovered Obituary is really more of a thriller than anything else. Across the six episodes, the series is slow-paced and likes to drop little bits of information here and there in reference to the overarching murder case that runs throughout. In this sense, it felt like a slightly directionless whodunnit.
I liked Cullen’s performance as Elvira, and I think the character was stylised very well in the role of a smalltown killer with her dark clothing and curt manner. There were amusing segments where Elvia narrated her thoughts, however, these are few and far between for a show billed as a comedy series.
On the one hand, you’ve got a situation that is quite absurd – a murderous obituarist in a small ominously named Irish town. Yet, on the other hand, the situations and scenarios that come up are not absurd at all. There’s a disconnect there which could have potentially been bridged with more comedic writing and more farcical characters. Instead, you have a show that feels like a crime drama with a main character it’s quite hard to root for. The series finale left itself open for a follow-up, and if renewed, I would really like to see the writing push that wit to the forefront.
If you are a fan of crime dramas, then you’ll probably like Obituary with its comedic twist, but if you’re looking for pitch-black humour that will have you on the edge of your seat, this isn’t it.
Final rating: 6.5/10
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