The Veil review: A nothingburger disguised as a timely thriller

The question that springs to mind at the end of The Veil is: What are we even doing here? What is the purpose of this FX six-episode limited series? Premiering on April 30, The Veil is boring and aimless unless the goal is to (much like the dragged-out The Handmaid’s Tale) remind audiences of the all-consuming power of an Elisabeth Moss close-up shot. She commands the camera here, too, but it doesn’t justify a confounding TV show with nothing substantial to say about the Serious Issues™ it’s trying to wrap itself around.

The Veil’s big problem is that it’s wholly unoriginal, with the trailer alone immediately giving off Jason Bourne vibes. Moss plays Imogen Salter, a lone wolf MI6 agent who changes aliases and alliances depending on her mission. As for the premise, expect a heavy-handed medley of dramas like 24, Homeland, Quantico, and Jack Ryan. You can see where this is going. There’s a terrorism threat to the U.S. painted with broad strokes, CIA interference, cliché portrayals of Middle Eastern countries and people, and, of course, Imogen’s white savior complex. In 2024, there is simply no need for such recycled, derivative, distasteful fare in the name of entertainment.

Actually, scratch that, because The Veil isn’t entertaining or pulsating with suspense. It’s predictable as hell for a globally-spanning crime thriller. And this is surprising considering the FX series hails from Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight, boasts a skilled cast and crew, and, to its credit, has a pretty tight pace. But the final result is so damn formulaic. The script only dares to peel back the layers of one of its two leads, sadly leaving Yumna Marwan’s Adilah with a hackneyed, vague backstory about why she may or may not have been coerced into a life of crime. Why bother developing the woman of color protagonist when more time can be spent zooming into Moss’ face yet again?

The show has a flicker of potential when it launches with Imogen and Adilah forming an unexpected, contentious yet deep-rooted bond. They’re on opposite sides of the situation, with Imogen tasked with transporting a captive Adilah from Syria to Paris. As they travel through Iraq, Turkey, and Bulgaria, she has to figure out whether her new pal is a high-level ISIS commander helping plan a big attack on America’s Eastern seaboard. Meanwhile, Adilah has to similarly manipulate Imogen so she can get back to her daughter in France. Their push-and-pull is initially interesting because Marwan goes toe-to-toe with Moss. And it makes the eventual focus on Imogen all the more frustrating.

Both women are continually called loyal, devious, and smart shape-shifters, but only one of them gets a chance to portray those qualities. There are plenty of references to Imogen’s traumatic past, why she joined MI6, and what compels her to keep going despite her losses. (“Annihilation of the self has always fascinated me,” she says to explain her connection to Adilah.) At least her flashbacks pave the way to understanding her rigid yet determined personality. Adilah gets no such favors. Instead, she’s given an emotional but tacked-on, foreseeable arc. She is only granted five minutes to talk about the oppression her motherland has suffered at the end of the penultimate episode—and by then, it feels clumsy and far too late.

To make the Imogen-centric matters worse, Moss has a heavily distracting British accent here. It’s not the first time she’s struggled with this (see: her Australian/New Zealand cadence for Top Of The Lake), but it’s jarring enough to take you out of the plot’s seriousness. (When she speaks French, Adilah casually remarks, “Your accent is very bad.” Reader, you will nod in agreement.) For The Veil to make sense, Imogen didn’t need to be British, especially because America is facing the threat she’s trying to curb, and she often works with a CIA agent. So why is she from the U.K.?

The actor is joined by talented stars, including a promising Dali Benssalah and The Good Wife’s Josh Charles. The latter plays Max, a CIA liaison dubbed “the most American American America has ever produced” (a.k.a. he’s cocky and likes to be in charge). Charles is having a lot of fun as a callous one-liner spewing menace, and his scenes with Benssalah’s Malik, a French intelligence officer, are a comedic respite in this otherwise messy, politically charged drama.

Frankly, the show just can’t help but collapse when it doubles down on Imogen’s history, with James Purefoy appearing as her former mentor. That the finale centers on their dynamic instead of, oh, an impending act of doom further drives home where The Veil’s heart is. And to portray a sweeping narrative of “brown people equal terrorism” in this day and age is frankly outrageous. The limited series offers a cursory representation with Adilah, sure, but it’s all so surfacey, making the show’s hope to create prestige TV feel like a failed mission.

The Veil premieres April 30 on FX on Hulu