Warning: poilers for Luther: The Fallen Sun are in play. If you haven’t caught this Netflix mystery thriller yet, you’ve been warned.
Detective mysteries have evolved from the days where a simply moral crusader was the only person who could solve crimes. As those characters have become increasingly complex, so have the cases that detectives like Idris Elba’s John Luther have been called upon to close out. Now with Netflix’s 2023 new movie release Luther: The Fallen Sun, that angle has been applied to a new character to the franchise: Cynthia Erivo’s DCI Odette Raine. When looking back on this fact, it’s something that Erivo sees as a step forward for female representation, and for very good reason.
When I had the privilege of speaking with the actress as part of the Netflix press day for Luther’s cinematic debut, we dug into the particulars of DCI Raine’s character. The relative new kid on the block in creator Neil Cross’ detective thriller saga, Cynthia Erivo appreciated the role she landed because of what it allowed her to represent. Here’s what Erivo told CinemaBlend about what this opportunity meant to her:
I love how she was written, I feel like they took great care. Neil Cross is so wonderful, and I felt like he really cared about this woman, and made her as layered and complex as you could possibly make a person. I loved that … you watch her sort of almost unravel towards the end. You start with someone who’s really straight laced, and she knows what she’s doing. She’s right down the line and it’s all either good or bad, evil or right, there’s no inbetween, and you sort of watch her realize that there has to be an inbetween. There’s a grey area, and then … she comes undone. I love being able to play that, and you don’t get women like that in those spaces very often. So it’s just really cool.
When the Jamie Payne-directed film kicks off, John Luther is in prison because of David Robey (Andy Serkis), a twisted cyber serial killer who had the titular lead put away to prevent any further inconvenience. It’s up to DCI Odette Raine to try and capture both Luther and Robey, which drags Cynthia Erivo’s character into a game even deadlier than she could ever imagine.
However, as the movie goes on, and in true Luther fashion, Raine starts learning that she shares more in common with the supposedly disgraced detective she’s pursuing than she’d like to admit. Which leads to the major angle of representation that Erivo relished while playing Odette Raine. Not only is her new character another strong female force for good in this fictional universe, but she’s so similar to John Luther in that we get to really examine his character all the more effectively.
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It leads to some pretty intense moments, especially when DCI Raine finds herself compromised in a way that pits her in a serious situation against Luther’s top cop. Coming to a head in a moment where Any Serkis’ David Robey has leverage on Odette Raine, the straight-laced inspector is forced to capture John Luther at gunpoint to save someone she loves.
Anyone who knows this BBC Series is surely aware that the themes of love and loyalty factor in very heavily when it comes to John Luther. Further intensifying the parallels between Idris Elba and Cynthia Erivo’s characters, The Fallen Sun sees a clashing of wills that eventually leads to a truce in the name of the law. Much as Erivo has hyped the changes for Wicked's film adaptation and how they'll amplify Elphaba and Glinda's friendship, Odette's character has further enriched the Luther landscape through this singular thread.
Further discussing how much she appreciated playing Luther: The Fallen Sun’s latest addition, the Widows alum was even more delighted to have played this part. Providing more context as to why she feels that way, the acclaimed actor drew these further connections between Odette Raine and John Luther:
I think that’s the thing that’s thrilling about it. She’s always sort of skirting on the edge of falling into Luther-land. That’s where we sort of leave her, she’s on the edge. And I love that about her, it makes her a little bit dangerous. When she brings out that gun, and takes him down the alleyway, you believe that she will do that. You believe that, at any moment, that gun will go off, and it’s gonna go off in the wrong direction. And she knows how to use it, she’s trained to. The fact that she has that in her is enough to know that, ‘Oh, this woman has more layers to her than we realize.’ It was fun to explore what that could become.
Rather than providing the franchise with another female character to merely act as the symbol of law and order, the film ups the stakes with DCI Odette Raine’s similar nature to that of her quarry. With fans going wild over Luther: The Fallen Sun’s ending, the results of that finale seem to have made room on the streets for another detective to dispense a special brand of justice.
Cynthia Erivo, as well as Neil Cross and Jamie Payne, have all expressed interest in a potential spin-off that would follow Odette’s further exploits in greater detail. Were this to happen, more ground could be broken as we see the Luther legacy inspire a new character to reckon with learning when to step outside the lines, and when to play things by the book.
You can see the genesis of this model in Luther: The Fallen Sun, which is currently streaming for any fan with a Netflix subscription. Meanwhile, what we know about Wicked tells us that we'll see Cynthia Erivo defying gravity on the big screen when Part One opens on November 27, 2024.
