From veteran filmmaker Neil Jordan, the Irishman that gave us The Crying Game (1992), Interview with a Vampire (1994) and Michael Collins (1996), comes the sumptuous Riviera.
Set on the out-of-this-world coastline we know as the French Riviera and in the relatively untapped world of art dealership, this elegant thriller gives televisual intrigue an overdue exotic spin.
Our guide into the exotic world of Riviera is a woman played by Julia Stiles - Georgina Clios. The young bride of a wealthy banker who meets his demise in the first episode. Quickly, she finds that the world she thought she knew is filled with strangers who each have their own secrets to guard.
Georgina (Julia Stiles)
When we meet art curator Georgina, she’s a year into her marriage to a man named Constantine Clios, a renowned figure in the European banking industry. Unfortunately, a year is all the universe had to offer these nuptials, as while she’s bidding on a new painting to add to his enviable collection, he’s meeting the business end of an exploding superyacht.
This sudden death is almost impossible for Georgina to fathom and her first impulse is to believe it untrue. As she grows all but certain that her new husband is no more, she also learns that perhaps she didn’t know the man as well as she thought. She then sets her sights on getting to the bottom of this allegedly accidental tragedy.
Constantine Cilos, the husband (Anthony LaPaglia)
We don’t get to spend much time with Constantine, but one thing’s for sure, his presence will linger over this story’s run. What we do know is that he is/was the billionaire owner of Cilos Bank – a job position that comes with a lifetime seat on the lap of luxury.
Although Georgina is Con’s second wife, it doesn’t seem like he’s gained any more of a handle on the concept of honest intimacy. While he was on that superyacht that night, she was under the impression he was visiting friends in Nice. To make matters worse, this is only one of many red flags that surface posthumously.
Since Georgina can’t confront the man himself, she’s gotta do some digging. Luckily, he leaves behind a large family.
Irina, the ex-wfe (Lena Olin)
Irina, still heavily invested in her family, is as knowingly classy as she is suspicious and resentful of Georgina. She’s also far more versed in Constantine’s hidden aspects – something that might either come in handy for or hinder Georgina’s renegade investigation.
Adam Clios (Iwan Rheon)
Adam is the eldest child of the Clios clan and also the most mysterious. Could he merely be internalising the pain of his father’s death or does he know something the others don’t?
Christos Clios (Dimitri Leonidas)
Filled to the brim with bravado and set to inherit Constantine’s fortune, this outspoken London-based entrepreneur/playboy talks as fast as he beds random women. His grief over Con’s death is far more blatant, but then again, is it overcompensation for a more sinister truth?
Adriana Clios (Roxane Duran)
Accustomed to spending weeks at a time either with her father or mother, Adriana is now solely in Irina’s care. The youngest of the three Clios children, Adriana is a regular perpetrator of disturbing self-harm for reasons we don’t know, but something tells us her parents have something to do with it.
The three mysterious figures that haunt Georgina
There’s Delormes, the detective in charge of the investigation (Amr Waked).
The mysterious young woman who jumped from the yacht just before it exploded.
And a man on a motorbike who’s stalking Georgina
Riviera debuts on Wednesday 4 October at 9:30pm on SBS.
