Maid to chill your bones
THE first episode of the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s chilling novel The Handmaid’s Tale aired seven weeks ago in the US – and it’s been making waves ever since.
If you’ve managed to resist the urge to binge online, then the critically-acclaimed drama series starts on Channel Four tonight – but be warned, it’s not for the faint-hearted.
The story, true to the 1985 novel of the same name, is set in the near-future dystopian Republic of Gilead where women are enslaved and stripped of their individualism.
In a nation where the birth rate is plummeting, handmaids are forced to submit to ritualised rape and bear the children of the wealthier ruling class.
CRUELTY
Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss plays the main character, Offred, a handmaid who pledges to survive and fight the cruel totalitarian system.
Her matter-of-fact explanation of how they ended up in this world is uncomfortably close to the bone.
“When they slaughtered Congress, we didn’t wake up,” she says. “When they blamed the terrorists and suspended the constitution, we didn’t wake up then either.
“They said it would be temporary. Nothing changes instantaneously. In a gradually heating bathtub, you’d be boiled to death.”
Parallels have been drawn – perhaps prematurely and a bit unfairly – with the Trump administration.
Still, it’s not surprising in a country where they seem to have regressed on key issues
UNDER COVER Offred battles the grim system including climate change, abortion rights and immigration. It has also been compared, perhaps a little less unfairly, with oppressed women in Saudi Arabia. But politics aside, it’s a damn good watch and probably the most thoughtprovoking TV drama you’ll see this year. It’s intense and, at times, painful to watch but you’ll be hooked within minutes as the distressing lives of the handmaids take you on an emotional rollercoaster ride. For those who’ve read the book, the scene where they surround a man accused of rape, beat him bare-fisted and tear him limb from limb is as horrifying as you’d expect. Sexual intercourse for pleasure is banned but that doesn’t stop the odd romance from blossoming and there are still a few steamy scenes and romantic interludes offering a bit of, er, relief from all the doom and gloom.
Moss is every bit as brilliant as you’d expect, and she’s joined by an all-star cast including Joseph Fiennes, Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), Samira Wiley (Orange Is The New Black) and Ann Dowd (The Leftovers).
A second season has been commissioned in the US and it’s expected to be a hit with Irish viewers.
The first episode of The Handmaid’s Tale airs on Channel Four tonight at 9pm.