In last week’s Must List we kicked off with a recommendation for a show to watch with the whole family. This week, however, Michaela Coel’s stunning new series is most certainly not a family show, but if you have the stomach for gripping drama this is certainly a Must.
I May Destroy You is the work of British actress and writer Michaela Coel, (she wrote all 12 episodes and directed some of them). In The New York Times Mike Hale calls it “a coming-of-age story, a generational snapshot and a tart, tender salute to the primal value of friendship when you’re young and underemployed.” And, he says, “at just about every step, it’s touching and quietly hilarious.” In Rolling Stone Maria Fontoura says that Michaela Coel is “magnetic, and I May Destroy You doesn’t flinch from asking tough questions about consent, responsibility, and the twisted shape of love.”
In The Sunday Times Camilla Long said she felt suspicious about the premise, “but it’s testimony to the sheer talent of Coel that this is wild and different and interesting. You could watch her doing almost anything, for a start, with her shock of silver-pink hair and that elastic heart-shaped face.” The Guardian’s Lucy Mangan is in no doubt that this is a five-star production: “It is, in short, an extraordinary, breathtaking achievement without a false note in it, shot through with humour and with ideas, talent and character to burn at every perfectly plotted turn.”
From this, you may be surprised that reviewers have talked at all about humour in I May Destroy You. But we know from Michaela Coel’s previous series Chewing Gum, that she is not just a gifted writer and actor, but a brilliant humourist to boot.
First shown June 2020. You can watch the trailer by pressing play on the show image, or by clicking here.
