Okay, Saint X might not be better than you think if you’ve already watched it. Maybe you loved it. Maybe you didn’t. But if you haven’t seen it, it’s better than you might think based on what the majority of critics are saying.
The limited series currently holds a 19% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, with professional critics lambasting it for being tedious, disjointed, and overly long. (Heck, it sounds like they’re confusing it with The Last Thing He Told Me.) Fortunately, The People tell the critics where to stuff it with an 83% audience score on RT.
However, the show doesn’t fare as well in other places around the web. According to a plethora of the comments and reviews on IMDb and Letterboxd, it’s the worst TV show ever made. As of August 2023, just 4 months after its release, it holds a 6.2/10 and 3.2/5, respectively. At face value those may not be terrible scores, but they don’t truly reflect the bilious loathing behind a lot of the comments.
What is Saint X about?
Like so many limited series to hit the stream, Saint X is based on a book. In this case that book is the bestselling novel of the same name by Alexis Schaitkin.
In a nutshell, white-American-college-girl Alison goes on a Caribbean vacation with her family and dies a violent death. The show then takes place (mostly) during 2 timelines — the family vacation down in the Caribbean and 20 years later, in New York City, where the dead girl’s younger sister is still struggling to move on.
The “today timeline” gets going with a stroke of serendipity (that admittedly exists almost exclusively in fiction), when Little Sister Claire hops into the taxi of one of the men accused of Big Sister Alison’s murder. Rattled but undeterred, Claire befriends murder suspect-but-never-charged Clive in order to finally solve the mystery of her sister’s death.
Where to watch Saint X
Saint X is currently only available to stream on Hulu and it is not available to rent.
👀 Check out our Hulu Review to see if it’s the right streaming service for you.
How long is Saint X?
Having a lot of free time is great, but not a reality for most people who have a job. So before starting a new series, it’s always good to know how much of a time commitment something is going to be.
Saint X is 8 episodes in total, which we feel is the sweet spot for a limited series. The episodes run from 42 to 51 minutes, which means the entire series is about 6.5 hours long. That’s totally bingeable if you’re stuck inside with a 24-hour bug or just trying to avoid the weather.
- Episodes: 8
- Total Hours: 6.5 (approx.)
Why is Saint X worth watching?
Admittedly, Saint X is abound with tropes and clichés. First and foremost, we’ve got the Dead White Girl. Then we’ve got the wealthy tourists in a not-so-wealthy country, the privileged idealist, the amateur sleuth, endless flashbacks, and more.
You’ll have to excuse my daughter. She’s in her first year of college and reading a bunch of Toni Morrison. Her heart’s in the right place, she’s just a little confused.
White Girl’s Mom
West Duchovny stars as Alison, the privileged college freshman who is determined to overcome her privilege by acknowledging it more than anyone has ever acknowledged their own privilege in human history. And by hooking up with an island boy, of course.
Saint X spends a lot of time hammering home Alison’s college freshman idealism (which feels a bit more 2020s than 1990s) to the point that it gets annoying. But that is the point. And without dropping major spoilers, it’s the crux of the entire show.
But even though she’s aced acknowledging her own privilege (and everyone else’s), she’s more than comfortable settling into the luxurious island resort her parents are footing the bill for. Once settled, she sets her eyes on resort worker Edwin, whom she admits to vacation-friend Olivia will help “expand [her] horizons”.
In addition to being a murder mystery, Saint X asks the viewer to question bigger issues. Things like global wealth disparity, the role of the media, and the impacts of tourism. You don’t need to think about these things in order to enjoy the show, but it may improve your viewing experience. For even after the mystery has been solved, the final episode leaves you with much more to think about.
That’s not something most murder mysteries do. And apparently critics don’t like it. But perhaps that’s why they’re critics.
👀 CHECK: Once you’re finished watching Saint X, why not check out our picks for the Best Summer Horror Movies!
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