Haunting drama leaves a mark
Thomasin McKenzie illuminates TVNZ’s dark, haunting new BBC drama,
Lucy Lewis Can’t Lose headliner and Shortland Street’s former Pixie Hannah’s return to the small screen for the first time in five years demonstrates just how far she has come.
Thomasin McKenzie is outstanding in the BBC’s fourpart adaptation of Kate Atkinson’s award-winning 2013 novel Life After Life (now streaming on TVNZ+).
You will have to wait until the second episode to see more than a fleeting glimpse, but once she takes centre stage, you will be captivated, compelled and rather concerned about the fate of her seemingly ill-fated Ursula Todd.
Be warned, this is not feelgood television. Our heroine suffers many privations, indignities and downright criminal acts as she navigates her way through the first half of the 20th century. The twist here is that, if she dies, she is simply reborn.
It all began on February 11, 1910, the dark and stormy night she was born – and died.
In her first life, the doctor was unable to make it through the snow to prevent her choking on the umbilical cord. ‘‘She was dead, before she had a chance to live,’’ one of the servants laments.
But Ursula was given a second chance – and this time the physician was there. Then, a few years later, a visit to the beach ends in tragedy. However, in take two of this event, an artist spies her sauntering towards the waves in time. That’s before there’s a fall from a roof, a London car crash and more than a few rounds with the Spanish Flu.
At first, this all takes a little getting used to, especially when even Lesley Manville’s extensive narration offers us no explanation as to the phenomena – or how the early ‘‘changes’’, in particular, could have manifested themselves (all we have is an adult Ursula in the opening scene cryptically reminding us of ‘‘the two best words in the English language: ‘what if?’’’).
And starting all over again from birth definitely takes any Groundhog Day or Russian Doll-esque humour out of the conceit. However, bear with it and it will grow on you (one life is so horrible you’ll be desperate for her to find a way out). Her growing sense of ‘‘instinct’’ and deja vu, which initially seems preposterous, organically starts making sense, as she gets older and more cognitively aware.
There are also echoes of Sliding Doors and The Age of Adaline in Ursula’s story, as she gradually comes to realise how she might be able to change more than just her own fate.
As he demonstrated with the magnificent Oscarnominated Brooklyn, director John Crowley knows how to create a sense of space and place and elicit ‘‘the feels’’ from his audience.
Both McKenzie and Isla Johnston (Anya Taylor-Joy’s younger counterpart in The Queen’s Gambit), who plays Ursula in more youthful days (although she looks too old to be credibly 10, even for 100 years ago) are entrancing presences. The impressive ensemble also includes Sian Clifford (Fleabag), Jessica Hynes (Years and Years), Patsy Ferran (Black Narcissus) and James McArdle (Mare of Easttown).
Screenwriter Bathsheba Doran (Boardwalk Empire) has done a fine job of distilling a challenging text, the costumes and production design are top-notch and it’s television drama that definitely leaves a mark.
Best consumed one episode at a time – bingeing may leave you rather emotionally drained – Life After Life is a thought-provoking, haunting tale that may not quite be for the Downton crowd, but is yet more evidence that one of Wellington’s brightest young stars can illuminate even the darkest of stories.
Life After Life is now available to stream on TVNZ+.