A candid look at expat lives in Asia

IT IS a story that has been told many times before, off-screen – that of a bored expatriate wife who leaves behind a successful career when her high-flying husband gets a posting in a new city.

Expats, the new TV series on Amazon Prime Video, begins promisingly enough with Nicole Kidman as the archetypal bored wife Margaret Woo living with her American-Chinese husband (Brian Tee) and children in Hong Kong.

For a moment, the show feels like a much-needed exploration into the psyche of such women, whose loss of financial independence, social isolation and frustration are worthy of its own in-depth examination.