The shock ‘Disclaimer’ ending, explained
With a jaw-dropping twist, the finale of the Alfonso Cuarón-directed limited series premiered over the weekend. We recap what happened
By Amy Campbell
WHY AREN’T MORE people talking about Disclaimer? Sure, Nobody Wants This was cute, and the impact of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez story was felt around the world. But I’m surprised more cinephiles aren’t obsessing over the AppleTV+ limited series. Perhaps it’s because, unlike Nobody Wants This and Monsters, Disclaimer, which is directed by the visionary Alfonso Cuarón, didn’t drop all at once like a bingeable bomb. With a new episode landing each week (save for the first two episodes, which were released together on October 11), for those tuning in, it’s been a slow, suspenseful burn, yet one that’s been worth every minute of the wait.
Disclaimer stars Cate Blanchett as Catherine Ravenscroft, an award-winning documentarian whose life unravels after she receives a package containing a novel that’s written about her. Catherine is married to a kind but fairly mediocre man named Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen), whom she lives with in a swanky London townhouse. Melbourne-born, Oscar-nominated actor Kodi Smit-McPhee plays their directionless son, Nicholas. The novel, titled ‘The Perfect Stranger’, is also dropped into the hands of Robert and Nicholas, both of whom are disgusted by the female protagonist, unaware of who it’s based on. The series also stars Kevin Klein as a revengeful widower, Stephen, Lesley Manville as his grief-stricken wife, Nancy, and rising star Louis Partridge as their son, Jonathan.
The series jumps between past and present day, and is told from multiple different perspectives, which means the viewer is never quite sure which version of events to trust. Cuarón’s ability to match the subject to an aesthetic, which is emphasised by his trademark long takes, results in a masterpiece that’s just as beautiful and cerebral as it is suspenseful and chilling.
What happens in Disclaimer?
Between episode one and six, we travel back and forth between the historic perspective of the novel, which was written by Nancy, and the present day, which we view largely through the eyes of Robert, Nicholas and Stephen.
We learn that the novel, ‘The Perfect Stranger’, has been constructed by Nancy, based on a series of found photographs that Jonathan took of Catherine during their encounter in Italy years before; grieving the loss of her son and seeking revenge against the woman in the photographs, whom she believes was responsible for Jonathan’s death by drowning, Nancy paints her son as an innocent young boy who has been wooed into having sex with a self-absorbed older woman. (Jonathan died in the ocean after diving in to save Nicholas, who had drifted off in a blow-up boat, while Catherine was asleep on the beach). Nancy had never published the novel – either she never intended to, or she died of cancer before she got the chance. But her widower, Stephen, discovers it hidden in their home, and decides to take matters into his own hands, self-publishing it under his own name with the intention of ruining the life of the woman who ruined theirs.
So, we watch as Catherine’s life falls apart. She is kicked out of her marital home after Robert learns the book is based on her; her professional life disintegrates; she’s cancelled online and her son, Nicholas, who she already had a fractured relationship with, comes to hate her even more. Each of these falling outs is masterminded by Stephen. He meets Robert for dinner, visits Catherine’s office to tell her assistant he’s being stalked by her, and sets up a fake Instagram account pretending to be his son, as a way of getting close to and then tormenting the already tormented Nicholas. Each time Stephen gets to someone close to Catherine, he walks away, performing the hand gesture of setting off a bomb.
Just like Robert, Nicholas and Catherine’s work colleagues, Cuarón positions the audience to believe Stephen’s version of events. Catherine is depicted as so despicable – so cold-blooded as to watch a young man die without calling for help – we’re never really prompted to question whether Stephen and Nancy’s version of events is, in fact, the truth.
The Disclaimer ending, explained
“It’s time for my voice to be heard.”
At the conclusion of episode six, Catherine utters these words, having just taken a sip of tea that, unbeknownst to her, has been spiked by Stephen. Here, we realise (or are reminded) that up until now, Catherine’s experience has been hidden from the viewer. But Cuarón, the master that he is, effectively obfuscates the fact her perspective has been omitted, to the point where, when she finally has a chance to speak her truth, the audience is exposed to an earth-shattering twist.
So, as Catherine sips on her drugged tea, we’re treated to her telling of that fateful few days in Italy. She begins by telling Stephen how remarkable it is that Nancy was able to construct a retelling based only on a few photographs, spitting each word with such believable pain. The photos Nancy built her story on show a younger Catherine posing provocatively in lingerie, which led the grief-stricken widow to believe Jonathan had been seduced. In fact, after stalking Catherine at the beach, we learn that Jonathan broke into her room and forced her to strip down at knifepoint. Fearing for her safety, and not wanting to wake her son, Nicholas, who was sleeping in the room next to her, Catherine obliges, smiling seductively for the camera between terrified tears.
Back in London, as she recounts this to Stephen, Catherine grows increasingly groggy. But she goes on to reveal that Jonathan raped her for three and a half hours, while her son slept only metres away. (The only clue we’re given to Jonathan’s predatory character arrives an episode earlier, in a flashback where Nancy receives a call from the mother of Jonathan’s ex-girlfriend, Sasha; the mother tells Nancy that Jonathan displayed inappropriate behaviour towards her daughter, which Nancy, blinded by her love for her son, refuses to believe.)
Then, just as Catherine has got her story out, the drugs kick in, and she passes out.
Blinkered by a different kind of drug (revenge), Stephen heads to the hospital where Nicholas, who has suffered an overdose, is on life support. His plan is to inject Drano into Nicholas’ IV drip; to show Catherine what it feels like to lose a son. The nurses let Stephen into Nicholas’ room, because he’d previously visited with Robert, who, having never questioned his wife’s innocence, pities the old man and foolishly lets him into their life. Just as he’s about to inject the lethal substance, Nicholas wakes up, mistaking Stephen for his mum.
Meanwhile, Catherine is also waking up; she skulls a plunger of coffee and rushes to the hospital, knowing from their previous hospital run-in with Robert, this is where Stephen will be headed. This entire time, we’re holding out breath. Will she get there in time to save her son, or will all of these gut-punches end in one big, sad gasp for air?
She doesn’t make it in time. Instead, seeing Nicholas awake, Stephen realises he doesn’t have the heart to carry through with his plan. Catherine arrives just as he’s leaving, when Robert turns up, too. Nicholas has been saved; it seems as if Stephen, realising the delusion of his wife’s story, will finally leave them alone.
The most satisfying part of this twist (for this viewer, at least), is when Robert asks Stephen why he never verified the book’s chain of events. “Why didn’t you question it?” Robert demands. “Why didn’t you?” Stephen retorts. Then, Robert seeks forgiveness from Catherine. But she’s a smart woman, and she’s not about to give it to him. “I know I should forgive you, but the truth is, I can’t,” Catherine says. “You’re managing the idea of me having been violated by someone far more easily than the idea of that someone bringing me pleasure. It’s almost like you’re relieved that I was raped. I don’t know how to forgive that.”
The series ends with Catherine and Nicholas on the couch, her explaining the story she kept from him for so long, which ends in them embracing. Meanwhile, Cuarón cuts to Stephen burning those fateful photographs, and his wedding ring, in his overgrown backyard. He plucks one out of the barrel; in the corner of the picture, he spots the reflection of young Nicholas, as the boy watches his mother’s assault.
Who is in the cast of Disclaimer?
The main cast includes:
- Cate Blanchett stars as Catherine Ravenscroft, an award-winning documentarian whose life is flipped upside down when a mysterious book arrives in the mail
- Sacha Baron Cohen plays Robert Ravenscroft, husband of Catherine, who runs a shady non-profit organisation
- Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Nicholas Ravenscroft, the wayward son of Catherine and Robert
- Kevin Klein plays Stephen Brigstocke, a retired school teacher seeking revenge against Catherine Ravenscroft for the death of his son years earlier
- Lesley Manville plays Nancy Brigstocke, Stephen’s wife
- Louis Partridge plays Jonathan Brigstocke, son of Stephen and Nancy
- Leila George plays a young Catherine Ravenscroft.
What is Disclaimer based on?
The limited TV series is based on the novel of the same name by British author Renée Knight. Before becoming a novelist, Knight was a documentary maker in her own right, working for the BBC, England’s Channel 4 and Capital Films. The Alfonso Cuarón-directed limited series sticks fairly close to the source material in terms of storyline, his trademark voiceover narrative (in this instance, delivered by British actress Indira Varma) adding a splash of drama to the cinematic adaptation.
Where can I watch the Disclaimer TV series?
You can watch all episodes of Disclaimer on Apple TV+. And if you don’t already have a subscription to the screamer, believe us: the series alone is worth buying one for.
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