The opening of No Time to Die raises more questions than it answers, but none more distracting than the choice to place Vesper Lynd in a family tomb in Matera, Italy some 500+ miles from the UK. For a British Treasury official, the location feels arbitrary at best and contrived at worst.

Even more puzzling is why Madeleine Swann would agree to a romantic getaway with James Bond within sight of his former lover’s grave. It’s a puzzling choice that I think can be explained by an unfortunate Bond movie trope: “exotic locations for exotic locations’ sake.” Sometimes less is more, and in this case, I’d have preferred Bond and Swann back from holiday with no mention of Vesper at all, or at least a more compelling narrative for it. I was never sold on Swann and Bond’s chemistry, and planting them in this exotic location all lovey-dovey was a force.