Five years after its debut, a Netflix psychological thriller with a mind-bending conclusion continues to provoke strong reactions and sleepless nights among British viewers.
A Love Triangle With a Supernatural Secret
The six-part series 'Behind Her Eyes' premiered on Netflix in February 2021. Based on Sarah Pinborough's 2017 novel, it stars Simona Brown as Louise, a single mother who begins an affair with her new boss, David, played by Tom Bateman. The plot complicates when Louise forms an unexpected friendship with David's wife, Adele, portrayed by Eve Hewson.
What starts as a fraught love triangle descends into darker territory as the characters bond over shared nightmares. Adele introduces Louise to the practice of astral projection, a method to control and leave one's body during dreams. Through flashbacks, viewers learn Adele survived a house fire that killed her parents and has honed this ability for years.
The Jaw-Dropping Finale Reveal
The story's climax sees Louise trying to save Adele from a deliberately set house fire. Using astral projection, Louise's consciousness enters the burning building, leaving her physical body vulnerable outside. In a pivotal moment, Adele's astral form takes over Louise's vacant body.
The final scenes deliver a devastating twist: the person everyone believed was Adele was actually Rob, her friend from a rehab facility. In a flashback, it is revealed Rob, fascinated by Adele's life, learned astral projection from her. He then trapped her consciousness in his own body after injecting himself with heroin, killed his physical form, and has been living as Adele ever since. In the present, having taken Louise's body, 'Rob' continues the cycle of deception.
A Legacy of Division and Debate
The ending left the show's audience profoundly split. On social media platform X, fans recently expressed how the twist lingered with them. One user admitted, "When I tell you I couldn't sleep for like a week," while another praised the show as "one of the best shows ever made." Many highlighted the abruptness of the reveal, with one noting it was unpacked in the last four minutes of the finale.
However, the supernatural turn proved controversial. On Reddit, criticism was fierce. One viewer stated they "hated the ending more than I have ever hated any media," calling it "SO DUMB and unrealistic." Another argued the shift into overt horror felt unearned, "suddenly turn[ing] into an episode of Goosebumps," and ultimately made the series a disappointment they wouldn't recommend.
Simona Brown, who played Louise, previously described the dream sequences as "unsettling and strange" rather than outright scary. She also confessed that her first reading of the script "completely floored" her, leaving her "mangled" by its successive twists.
Despite the polarising response—or perhaps because of it—'Behind Her Eyes' and its unforgettable twist maintain a haunting presence in the minds of UK Netflix subscribers years after its release.
