A tortured existence
Rose Byrne’s new Apple series Physical mines the lurid 80s for drama, writes James Croot
‘Wrinkles and zits – that’s a sexy cocktail I’m serving up.’’ When we first meet Physical’s (now streaming on Apple TV+) Sheila Rubin (Rose Byrne), she’s a woman plagued by self-doubt and an incessant inner-monologue that’s driving her crazy.
It’s 1981 and the San Diego housewife and mother-of-one’s Southern California dreams of freedom have turned into a suburban nightmare.
Days are marked by repetitive routines and an obsession with exercise and food that has spun wildly out of control. Restrictions and rewards control her actions and eating habits, but it’s only when she discovers her ballet class has shut up shop – driven out of its prime location by mall expansion plans – that the full extent of her problems are revealed.
To cope with the loss of her outlet for her repressed emotions and frustrations with her self-obsessed husband Danny (Rory Scovel), she orders ‘‘three burgers, three fries and a chocolate shake’’, rents herself a motel room, strips naked and eats her feelings. As we quickly discover, it’s a regular ritual that she instantly loathes herself for and repeatedly tells herself she’ll never carry out again.
Things at home though are getting gradually worse. Danny loses his job at the university and has to endure a visit the same evening from their former fellow hippies, who are seemingly living far more successful lives, which include a book deal and an imminent appearance on Phil Donahue’s TV show.
‘‘The real way to make a difference is to make a fortune,’’ the wife says, a statement viewed as a clear betrayal of their once shared values by Sheila.
The night ends with Danny resolving to run for office on a coastal conservation platform, something Sheila suggested years ago. The project will require them to dip into their savings, which fills Sheila with dread. She’s been eating her way through that account, three burgers at a time.
As the opening scene, set five years into the future suggests, Annie Weisman’s (The Path, Suburgatory, Desperate Housewives) 10-part series will chart Sheila’s evolution via a very different obsession. Yes, leg warmers, power ballads, headbands and fluro-leotards abound, as Physical mines the era of big hair, choreographed workouts, Jane Fonda exercise videos and THAT Olivia NewtonJohn song for drama and dark humour.
Weisman and first episode director Craig Gillespie do a terrific job of establishing a tone and a sense of space, place and less-than-quiet desperation.
Gillespie, so impressive in bringing to life complicated women like Tonya Harding (I, Tonya) and Cruella de Vil (Cruella) in inventive, entertaining ways, here absolutely nails the tonal balance, drawing us into Sheila’s troubling world and willing her to break out of it.
As he’s shown in working with Tonya’s Margot Robbie and The United States of Tara’s Toni Collette, Gillespie knows how to bring out the best in his fellow Aussies. Here, Byrne is a revelation, building on her scene-stealing turn as Gloria Steinem in last year’s Miss America to prove comedic timing isn’t her only acting skill.
All the focus has been on her proposed turn as our prime minister in recent days, but Physical proves what a fine, compelling actor she really can be.
Physical is now available to stream on Apple TV+.