“Criminal: UK” Review by Brooke Daugherty
October 21, 2019 3:41 pm |
News of another crime drama might cause some legislative fatigue, but Criminal: UK does not. What seems to be a gimmick – setting all episodes in an interrogation room – turns out to be an innovation. The confinement of the characters to the interrogation room creates anxiety in the viewer. The only point to catch your breath is when a scene takes place in the adjacent room, complete with two way mirror, or the hallway outside both rooms.
Not only is the premise superb, but the acting is spot on. David Tennant, Hayley Atwell, and Youssef Kerkour are compelling as the accused. I don’t want to give anything away on the guilt or innocence of the accused, but know they all play their characters well. Kathleen Kelly plays hard nosed Detective Inspector Natalie Hobbs like it was second nature. Mark Stanley had me believing he is naturally as nervous as Detective Constable Hugo Duffy. All the other performances are great, but these two stand out to me from the ensemble cast.
All three episodes were written by George Kay and directed by Jim Field Smith. A collaboration going beyond Criminal: UK – they founded Idiotlamp Productions together. They took a seemingly boring idea and made it interesting and tense. We see glimpses of police lives outside of the office – the hint of romance, tension between detectives, and substance abuse over the course of months. This is a police drama that focuses on the intense mental conflict between the police officer and the suspect in question.
If you enjoy shows like Law and Order or CSI as well as tense dramas, watch these three episodes on Netflix now.
PCL Rating: Tupperware
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH 🍅
Share this:
Tags: Brooke Daugherty, Criminal: UK Netflix 2019, pop culture leftovers
Categorised in: Reviews, Television Reviews
This post was written by Leftover Brian
Comments are closed here.