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I really didn't want to watch I May Destroy You because I thought who wants to watch a film about such trauma in such traumatic times. But my god, I just spent the afternoon binge-watching the whole thing. And it is even better than what everyone says. 1/
First there is the obvious stuff: a young brilliant Black woman had sole authorship over the show, wrote it, co-directed most episodes, produced it, and starred in it. 2/
Second, it has richly a drawn mostly Black cast, and it takes place in Dalston and other bits of London, so it feels familiar but not in a movie-familiar sort of way. It feels lived in. 3/
The series looks trauma straight in the face & refuses for trauma to define the limits of the characters' personhood. It handles trauma well because -despite its harrowing realism- it is nuanced, leaves room for ambiguity & ambivalence, & does not gratuitously overdo violence. 4/
The characters were richly imagined and multi-dimensional. Having been raped did not make them virtuous or victims. Despite having stolen consent the show still left some of those men much room for their humanity. The characters were all complex and recognisable. 5/
Perhaps the thing that most moved me was that this was an abolitionist show. It really really did not allow the catharsis to come from the police and the carceral system taking over. That amazing multi-strand ending was so brilliantly tender and so complex and so intelligent. 6/
The film REFUSED carceral feminism. I also loved how the show dealt with questions of race and class and gender and sexuality with such brilliance and also with such generosity. 7/
Brava to @MichaelaCoel who has blown me straight out of the water with this incredibly thoughtful, incredibly brilliant, abolitionist drama. I love how it ends with plants growing in an urban garden. May your garden grow Michaela Coel! Fin/
