Her initial reaction isn’t dread as one might expect, but instead more of a curiosity. Her memory of the previous night is blurry and splintered, including a very brief, disturbing flashback of a man towering over her in what looks like a public restroom stall. The next morning she discovers a bruise on her forehead, but can’t remember how exactly she got it. At some point she decides to take a break and meet friends for drinks. ‘Succession’ Review: Episode 9 Says Goodbye to a Father and Hello to the World He’s Wroughtīut she’s young and hip, with an array of friends who are just as cool, and she’s the personification of the smart, intense, hyper-conscious millennial, although, in this case, minus the awkwardness of the character she played in “Chewing Gum” (the series that launched her career), but with a similar captivating vibe.Īs the story opens, she’s saying goodbye to her Italian friends-with-benefits pal and drug supplier, Biagio (Marouane Zotti), having gone to Italy to finish her second book, which, in her procrastination, she never did actually write.īack in London to her fun-loving circle of friends - most notably the dramatic Terry (Weruche Opia), an actress, and fitness trainer Kwame (Paapa Essiedu), who has a penchant for Grindr hookups - she has no choice but to spend an entire night in her publisher’s office writing to produce material to show them. Now writing her second novel, she’s struggling to create captivating characters and stories that aren’t based on 280-word Twitter posts. It’s challenging and not always easy to watch, but will surely spark many conversations on the subject matter it so candidly explores.Īt the center of this unconventionally structured series is Arabella (Coel), a bestselling author of a book about her millennial experience, “Chronicles of a Fed-Up Millennial,” which was essentially a series of tweets cobbled together. And the series doesn’t offer any pat, compact answers to the big questions it raises. There’s nothing tidy about how this timely tale unfolds, but there’s nothing tidy about sexual assault. Titled “ I May Destroy You,” the series alternates between broad stories about sexually adventurous friends, and more individual and upsetting moments of persistent trauma. Paulina Jayne Isaac is a writer and editor based in New Jersey.British multihyphenate Michaela Coel returns to television with a new 12-part, half-hour HBO series that takes on weighty notions about sexual consent in the present day, given how much the landscape of dating and relationships has changed. I May Destroy You is now streaming on HBO. Yeah, don’t expect a neat bow or shock value here- I May Destroy is here to right the wrongs of HBO series past. “Like any other experience I’ve found traumatic, it’s been therapeutic to write about it,” she said. (Check out her series Chewing Gum, available on Netflix, immediately.) Also this: In 2018 she explained at the Edinburgh Television Festival that some of I May Destroy You is pulled from events in her own life. Whatever happened that night will serve as the catalyst for the entire season, and Coel has a reputation for writing realistic, nuanced stories. It’s too early to call, but I doubt that will be the case for I May Destroy You. Or, as in the case of Game of Thrones, they’re included solely for shock value. Too often, depictions of sexual assault in movies and TV are quickly wrapped up in a neat bow, never to be discussed again. Just one example of this is the rape of Sansa (Sophie Turner) in Game of Thrones-Turner defended the graphic scene, but fans and critics alike called out the mostly male writers room for including it. Sexual assault storylines in pop-culture are prolific, but that doesn’t mean they’re always done right. This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from. Before she returns home to London, she makes a feeble attempt to broach the “So, what are we?” conversation, but Biagio brushes her off with, “When I’m ready to call you, I call.” (It’s not so harsh, though: Minutes into her cab ride to the airport, he calls.) When we meet her, we learn she’s an author fresh off her first wildly successful book, Chronicles of a Fed-Up Millennial, who’s been staying in Italy with her maybe boyfriend/definite international hookup, Biagio (Marouane Zotti). The British series, written by and starring Coel, begins with a seemingly normal day for Arabella. What begins as an easy-to-follow storyline slowly unravels into something much more complicated and dark-a journey that main character Arabella ( Michaela Coel) also experiences as she unpacks what happened after a hazy night out. But that’s the magic of I May Destroy You. I’ll admit I didn’t know what to expect from the premiere of HBO’s I May Destroy You-the trailer leaves much to be desired-and if I’m being honest, by the time the credits were rolling, I still had no idea what I’m in for as the series continues.
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