What’s unnerving is Arabella’s unwillingness to acknowledge that the sex might not have been consensual. Her bank records indicate she went to an ABM, but she can’t remember why. It takes a while before she’s willing to admit that her drink might have been spiked and she may have been sexually assaulted.
The next morning she’s still typing but she’s got a cut on her forehead, and a fuzzy head of splintered memories of her drinking session. During that night she takes a break and meets pals for a drink. As the story opens, she’s leaving Italy, having gone there to finish her second book, which is due any day but she hasn’t actually written, beyond some notes and jokes.īack in London she’s obliged to pull an all-nighter at her publisher’s office to produce something to satisfy them. She gets stopped in the street by fans and has a wide array of hip young friends. She’s Black and has dyed her hair a distinct pink. The focus is on Arabella (Michaela Coel, star/creator of the British cult hit Chewing Gum), who has written a bestselling book about her millennial experience.
Written by and starring one of Britain’s best young actor/writers it goes to places that will make some viewers uncomfortable. I May Destroy You (Sunday HBO, 10:30 p.m.) was originally made for BBC TV and has already stirred some controversy about its methods of approaching the issues of consent. It concerns consent and sexual assault, told in a way that’s more like protracted human experience than conventional drama. But it’s potent and urgent in a way that’s compelling and admirable.
It’s not an easy watch, the big-ticket new series this weekend.