Kiss me first
Virtual Reality Bites
UK Broadcast Channel 4, finished US Broadcast Netflix, TBC Episodes Reviewed 1.01-1.06
Scheduling Kiss Me First to debut within days of Ready Player One landing in cinemas did the Channel 4 show few favours. This story of teens using a VR world to escape their real-world problems initially looks like a cut-price take on the Steven Spielberg blockbuster, but it’s more than that. Where Spielberg made a fun, popcorny actioner, Kiss Me First tackles considerably weightier themes like online bullying, gender identity, assisted dying and mental health – all wrapped up in a gripping (if sometimes tooconventional) thriller plot.
You certainly can’t fault it for ambition. While the segments set in the VR paradise of Azana lack the graphics power of a Hollywood blockbuster, few contemporary British dramas do so much to carry you away from the everyday. The scope of the story is also impressive, as what begins in soap opera territory – with Leila (Tallulah Haddon) left alone when her sick mum passes away – soon morphs into something much more sinister. After the first two episodes labour to set the story in motion, Kiss Me First finds its groove when Leila realises that the renegade “Red Pill” group (led by the enigmatic Adrian) might not be as good for its members as it claims...
It’s anchored by a pair of brilliant performances: Haddon convincingly evolves Leila from meek, grieving teen into a true hero, prepared to risk everything to save a friend; Simona Brown, meanwhile, plays Tess – a fellow Azana player with mental health issues – with impressive sensitivity.
The show’s problems are mostly on the narrative side. Maybe it’s a hangover from Bryan Elsley’s time on Skins, but the attractive young cast do seem to jump into bed with each other with implausible regularity; Leila’s lodger Jonty starts off as too much of a clown to truly convince when he becomes a key cog in the plot; and none of the other Red Pillers get the chance to develop beyond avatars. Adrian is also a disappointing antagonist whose motives prove anticlimactic – certainly not compelling enough for the dangling story thread at the end to leave you gagging for more. Richard Edwards