Peacock's 'Strung' Collapses Into Camp After Halfway
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- "Strung" is a Peacock horror thriller directed by Malcom D. Lee and written by Alan B. McElroy, now streaming on the platform.
- Chloe Bailey stars as Layla, a struggling violinist who takes a live-in tutoring job with an affluent family, with Lynn Whitfield cast as the enigmatic matriarch Audra and described as 'perfectly cast.'
- The review criticizes the film for leaving key plot threads unresolved — notably Layla's family is never addressed after her sister's death is introduced — and for Layla's constantly poor decisions, which undercut the intended dread.
- The plot is described as collapsing after a major turning point near the halfway mark, culminating in a 'bizarre and wholly unrealistic climax' that lands exactly as expected.
- The film is executive produced by Jason Blum and Tyler Perry, with music by Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge, and features supporting performances by Coco Jones, Anna Diop, Lucien Laviscount, and Romy Woods.
- The review notes screenwriter McElroy appears to be offering commentary on the lack of agency that comes with working and living for an employer, a thematic layer undercut by sequences 'so far removed from reality' they become comedic.
- Cross-coverage note: The New York Times review frames the film as 'A Tease of a Thriller,' aligning with Variety's verdict that 'Strung' has glitz and glam but lacks the substance to function as an engaging psychological thriller.
Why it matters: For Peacock, the Blum-Tyler Perry horror pairing underperforms critically at launch, with both Variety and the New York Times finding the film more camp than thriller — a miss for a streamer trying to build a horror identity beyond Blum's other franchises. For Bailey and Whitfield, the performances earn praise even as the material around them collapses, suggesting the cast deserved a sharper script.
