The Woman in Cabin 10 author Ruth Ware praises a significant book change in a new interview, noting how the film’s ending is “really different.”

In an interview with ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley, bestselling author Ruth Ware opened up about a major change in the Netflix adaptation of her novel The Woman in Cabin 10. According to Ware, the film dramatically alters the story’s ending. However, rather than resist it, she fully embraces the update, calling it a more emotionally satisfying conclusion. Check out her thoughts below:

[…] in the book Lo never really gets her showdown with the main antagonist. It all kind of plays off off-screen, if that’s not a weird term to use for a book. In the film, she gets that moment, she gets that kind of closure, and I was so happy that they were able to make that work. I thought that was fantastic.

Based on Ruth Ware’s bestselling 2016 novel of the same name, the psychological thriller film, directed by Simon Stone (The Daughter, The Dig), premiered on Netflix on October 10, 2025. Keira Knightley leads the cast as Lo Blacklock, with a supporting cast including the likes of Guy Pearce, Art Malik, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, and Hannah Waddingham.

The Woman in Cabin 10 follows a travel journalist called Laura “Lo” Blacklock, who is covering the maiden voyage of a luxury cruise ship. When she witnesses a pᴀssenger being thrown overboard, Lo is thrown into a full investigation into what exactly happened to the woman in cabin 10, especially as all the guests and crew are accounted for.

As a Netflix original, The Woman in Cabin 10 will bypᴀss theaters entirely and rely on streaming performance to gauge its success following release. Unfortunately, so far, reactions have been mixed. The Woman in Cabin 10 currently holds a disappointing 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it “rotten,” although there are currently too few reviews to provide an audience score.

Author Ruth Ware even admitted The Woman in Cabin 10’s Netflix adaptation was a “leap of faith,” after relinquishing creative control, although she stated she was “incredibly happy with the process.” Despite being critically panned thus far, ScreenRant’s Mae Abdulbaki rated it a 7 out of 10, praising The Woman in Cabin 10’s pacing, Knightley’s performance, and atmospheric tension.

For fans of the novel, the biggest surprise may be how different the ending feels. In the book, Lo escapes danger but never directly confronts the man behind the conspiracy. As Ware notes, much of the resolution unfolds off-page, giving the novel a quieter, more cerebral closing than many genre thrillers. However, the film brings that confrontation front and center.

The shift highlights a broader reality of book-to-film adaptations: not everything can, or should, remain exactly the same. Some internal beats must be externalized, and narrative moments may be rearranged to create more drama. The key is whether those changes serve the story, not whether they mirror the original chapter by chapter, which is why Ware took a hands-off approach.

Ruth Ware’s support of The Woman in Cabin 10, and the decision to change the ending, shows that adaptation doesn’t have to mean compromise. In this case, it meant improvement for the author, as she called it “fantastic.” The result is a story that honors The Woman in Cabin 10’s source material, while still daring to evolve for the screen.