A Luca Guadagnino-produced thriller about a man, played by John David
Washington, on the run in Greece is an enjoyable homage to 70s conspiracy movies
![Beckett review – sturdy Netflix thriller provides simple throwback pleasures](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/31ce92dc1ac5c4990bc1101de5649f4bab052c22/854_108_2782_1670/master/2782.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctcmV2aWV3LTMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=1c0a37d3ff67b000bbacbb3a413128a4)
The *throws hands in the air and gives up* title of the new Luca Guadagnino-produced thriller is a telling sign of a film that no one knows quite what to do with. When
Netflix picked it up late last year, it was switched from Born to Be Murdered (which sounds like a Lifetime movie starring Tori Spelling) to Beckett (which sounds like a
comedy about either a wise-cracking detective or a mischievous dog or a wise-cracking detective who is also a mischievous dog), both rather awful and both rather far from what the film really is: a curious combination of propulsive on-the-run action and naturalistic Euro drama, too mainstream for the arthouse crowd and too arthouse for the mainstream, now hoping to find its place on a platform where anything and everything goes.
Related: Vivo review – sweet but forgettable Netflix animation is Pixar-lite