There is no question that Jodie Comer is absolutely magnificent in this one-woman show. It is only about 90 minutes, which is entirely appropriate because she opens at full pelt and does not let up for the entirety of the show. She delivers a bombardment of dialogue and energetic action. It was so clever how she morphed her accent between scouse and RP depending on the state of mind and situation the character was in at any given moment. Truly brilliant. You could not look away the entire time.
The production was also excellent. You can see at the end of the show when the camera pans out, how small the Harold Pinter stage is. But because of the camerawork, you can't tell this when watching, the show feels massive, yet you also feel on stage right with Jodie at the same time. Thus is the synergy of excellent camerawork and excellent acting.
As for the story. Well. I was behind it for about an hour. It looks at how the judicial system, in its noble quest for objectivity and a fair trial for both alleged victim and alleged perpetrator, can often bulldoze alleged victims and not be sensitive enough to the traumatising experience of having to retell and relive their past experiences (in this instance, sexual assault) in the course of the judicial process.
But by the end it gave up on this idea and descended down the cheap, lazy and offensive route instead of just blanket-blaming men for all of the proposed problems with the legal system (a legal system which btw is run by a significant amount of women). Not a specific man, or a specific subsection of men. Just men. It very provocatively suggests that an average of 1 in 3 women in the audience will be sexually assaulted in their lives (a statistic I strongly disagree with), and by implication, that there are huge swathes of men in our society who are sexual abusers (again, an idea I strongly protest). This is the terrible divisiveness that many women have become so accustomed to getting away unchallenged with, and are supportive of each other in promoting in modern times, by blaming all of life's ills on men. And the way that many clearly female reviewers have written galvanising reviews here on IMDB in support of this message of misandry demonstrates how far this toxicity has spread. Not only is it divisive, but promoting this dogma of women=innocent, man=guilty diminishes all the male alleged victims of sexual assault, and all the men who have had to relive traumatising experiences in the course of the judicial process too. So what started off as an interesting and powerful look at the difficult experiences many alleged victims have to go through in the course of the judicial process, was ultimately just a clever guise to lead you down the garden path to some unrestrained and unchallenged man-bashing. How long are we going to let social justice warriors get away with spouting this type of vitriol without any accountability for the effects?
The production was also excellent. You can see at the end of the show when the camera pans out, how small the Harold Pinter stage is. But because of the camerawork, you can't tell this when watching, the show feels massive, yet you also feel on stage right with Jodie at the same time. Thus is the synergy of excellent camerawork and excellent acting.
As for the story. Well. I was behind it for about an hour. It looks at how the judicial system, in its noble quest for objectivity and a fair trial for both alleged victim and alleged perpetrator, can often bulldoze alleged victims and not be sensitive enough to the traumatising experience of having to retell and relive their past experiences (in this instance, sexual assault) in the course of the judicial process.
But by the end it gave up on this idea and descended down the cheap, lazy and offensive route instead of just blanket-blaming men for all of the proposed problems with the legal system (a legal system which btw is run by a significant amount of women). Not a specific man, or a specific subsection of men. Just men. It very provocatively suggests that an average of 1 in 3 women in the audience will be sexually assaulted in their lives (a statistic I strongly disagree with), and by implication, that there are huge swathes of men in our society who are sexual abusers (again, an idea I strongly protest). This is the terrible divisiveness that many women have become so accustomed to getting away unchallenged with, and are supportive of each other in promoting in modern times, by blaming all of life's ills on men. And the way that many clearly female reviewers have written galvanising reviews here on IMDB in support of this message of misandry demonstrates how far this toxicity has spread. Not only is it divisive, but promoting this dogma of women=innocent, man=guilty diminishes all the male alleged victims of sexual assault, and all the men who have had to relive traumatising experiences in the course of the judicial process too. So what started off as an interesting and powerful look at the difficult experiences many alleged victims have to go through in the course of the judicial process, was ultimately just a clever guise to lead you down the garden path to some unrestrained and unchallenged man-bashing. How long are we going to let social justice warriors get away with spouting this type of vitriol without any accountability for the effects?