"Disclaimer" A cleverly designed "narrative and format" that draws you into the labyrinth of The Truth. *Note! Contains spoilers.

"Pay attention to the narration and the form"

*Please be aware that this article describes the ending, so please be careful if you have not seen the movie yet.

"Be careful with your narration and format. While their power can bring you closer to The Truth, they can also be a powerful weapon to manipulate people."

At the venue where Katherine received the TV Journalism Award, the host made this announcement. And the essence of the drama "Disclaimer" is almost entirely summed up in these words. Alfonso Cuarón, a brilliant storyteller, uses "narrative and form" to cleverly manipulate our perception and drag us into a labyrinth of The Truth.

The most unusual thing about this drama is that it has not one, but two narrators. Catherine's part is narrated by an anonymous female voice (Indira Varma), from a third-person perspective rather than a first-person one. She refers to Catherine as "she" and speaks from an objective, bird's-eye view. Meanwhile, Steven's part is narrated by his own voice, telling the story (there are two directors of photography, too, with Emmanuel Lubezki for Catherine's part and Bruno Delbonnel for Steven's part).

"Disclaimer" Image courtesy of Apple TV+

Narration from third person (=Catherine) and first person (=Stephen) perspectives. The reason why Alfonso Cuaron adopted such a strange "narrative and format" is probably to prevent <The Truth> that he had cleverly concealed from being revealed. We are completely led to believe that "Catherine seduced Jonathan and had a physical relationship." However, <The Truth> is not like that. "Jonathan broke into Catherine's room and assaulted her by force."

If Catherine's narration had been in the first person, she would have told The Truth from her heart. She would have revealed the past that she had been hiding since the first episode. The trick of an anonymous narrator tricks us into thinking that the story written in "The Perfect Stranger" is The Truth, and we are being manipulated without even realizing it.

In fact, it was shown from the beginning that Jonathan's part was not The Truth. Unlike Catherine and Stephen, Jonathan's part is connected with a very classic transition of "iris in at the beginning, iris out at the end." With this old-fashioned technique, Alfonso Cuaron carefully shows that this part is a fictional world, a world of imagination created by Nancy.

In the seventh and final episode, the iris in/iris out technique is not used. This is because Catherine herself confesses the events of 20 years ago. The transition that cuts directly from the present to the past visualizes that this is The Truth.

The Post-Truth Era