Excellent well worth a watch
Holy shit, the level of realism in this show is just unbearable at times. Completely raw and unapologetic throughout the opening few minutes which continues well into the series. I'm on episode seven and it had reached an even more elevated height of authenticity if that's possible. If you think for one minute that anything in this show is impossible then take a big step back and wake up.
Ep1: One person to clean THAT house in a few hours? She's Superwoman!! Then ... why have a window open with a kid in the car and belting down the freeway? Why do you park your car on the side like that ... derrr. Oh ... and the script is very weak and the acting bland. Not sure I'll make it to Ep 2.
acting, direction and handling of different mental issues and themes of violence were all spot on. you will root for everyone at some points, even people you don't want to root for. and then you will be disappointed by everyone at some points, even people you don't want to judge. it's a painfully raw, upsetting series, and if you can stomach it, do watch it.
most importantly i'd suggest taking all the comments and reviews floating around the internet seriously. it is triggering, and not in the pop culture sense of the word. the only other time i've experienced this amount of visceral, physical distress over something otherwise harmless was the sound of a particular type of voice triggering a traumatic event. i went in believing wholeheartedly that it might be intense like everyone warned squid game would be (and it was), but that the triggers wouldn't be things i needed to be concerned about: i don't have my own child, and i'm not a victim of domestic partner violence.
but there are scenes of panic, anxiety, dissociation and dread. there are scenes with perspective views that are jarring, and scenes which act as unreliable narrative tools. there are characters who relapse into alcoholism, and there are extremely authentic and distressing manic episodes that play out on screen when alex's mother is concerned. there is homelessness, depicted in a number of ways and in the ways that most people don't think about, like sleeping in your car and having no safety net between various, fleeting types of temporary housing. there are courthouse scenes, and courtroom scenes (particularly stressful for me, having experienced them), and there are sensations of claustrophobia, loss of time and helplessness that the camerawork and acting convey in a way that translates outside of the actual show and into your own reactions, if you have ever felt any of those sensations yourself.
there are people who try to do the right thing, for the wrong reasons. there are people characterized as good, who are not good. there are people who keep doing the wrong thing. there are no straightforward villains because everyone is realistic, and that makes it worse. and there is a lead character in alex, with an innocent child, who consistently encounters obstacle after obstacle and does not get to breathe—not really—until the very last episode.
if you don't have any experience with the issues tackled by this show or you're watching it for maid confessions like the book, you will likely not get everything out of this experience that the show has to offer. if you are prone to dissociation, intense worry, or have firsthand experience with any of the things i've mentioned here, you're going to have a tough time. i regularly attend therapy and i'm doing quite well, but it was still not the kind of show i could binge-watch and it did come up a couple of times in therapy—for the better, honestly.
the last thing i want to say regarding the content is that, if you were a parentified child, or had insecure attachments growing up due to neglect, abuse or addiction—this is scary. unless you are completely cut off from your experiences with insecure attachment? this will remind you of things that aren't actually happening on screen, from different times and of different natures. i was a parentified child, and i still to this day struggle with not worrying about people who aren't my responsibility. that theme is present throughout the show, and it does not let up, not until the very end.
Raw, honest, moving, and powerful. Margaret Qualley RULED the screen. Well worth the watch!
as a domestic abuse survivor, this show is hard to watch. it brings back all of those muddy, icky, second-guessing feelings and a lot of the thoughts i remember having myself. but it's also kinda therapeutic watching someone else go through something similar, hearing (on tv) someone blatantly validate emotional abuse is really important for a lot of people, because a lot of abuse starts that way. before they escalate to hitting you and pushing you down the stairs they scream and yell at you and blame you for everything.
and while this show is about domestic abuse, it's also about surviving and making it out. i appreciate more than i can say with words that there are shows depicting what these types of situations are like and for giving hope to anyone stuck in these situations that there is a way out of it.
margaret qualley has done a fantastic job with this role. definitely a show worth watching.
The critics giving this praise are cowards.
I get that its hard to downvote a show about abuse, but this show is just bad.
Its the cliche abused (not battered) Wife with the mom who tells her she should go back because you don't "leave a good man" - seriously? - they live in a dump with inside furnature outside in an area that doesn't seem to be too expensive in general.
The entirety of the 4 episodes I watched, I could perfectly predict what she would do next. All the characters are a cliche and nothing interesting happens (at least not in the 4 episodes I watched).
Even the loss of her car, which could have made for an interesting story was boring, since a good guy gives her his old one.
The show fails at being entertaining and it also fails at showing what coming out of an abusive relationship really is like since all the problems solve themselves within a day or two miraculously.
Highly suggest this to people who enjoy drama without any distractions. The story remains pure and realistic. It's far from perfect but still better than high budget series/movies filled with bells and whistles and tons of artificial ways to swing your feelings.
I read the book by Stephanie Land, which is what I believe this series was loosely based on. The book was excellent, and so is the tv series, but other than the basic premise of a young single mother trying desperately to support herself by working as a maid, they have very little in common. The tv series has deep themes of domestic abuse and dysfunctional families and explores very little about her relationships or observations of/with her clients - which is what the book mostly focuses on. Either way, I recommend both - this tv series or the book - but don't expect them to have much in common.
Such a raw, powerful, and gripping piece of media. This was a miserable watch at times; an absolute rollercoaster of emotions. Margaret Qualley deserves all the praise for her performance here.
Excellent in so many ways. Yes, it does have its sudden facilities over the last two episodes, but I think it's an amazing work what they've done on portraying the mind of an abused person. Margaret is amazing on this one, and I think people should talk more about how she so truthfully shows the desperation of having so much and so little to lose at the same time.
This was not always an easy series to watch. It dealt with some very disturbing issues and sometimes it stayed in moments too long which caused the storytelling to be laboured (I have confess, I did a visual fast forward a couple of times). Inspired by a New York Times best selling memoir, which I have not read, it has the feel of something truly authentic, especially because it speaks of a kind of trauma that is incredibly personal yet unnoticed by others. I learned a great deal about this insidious terror and the mammoth climb (personal and government issue) for those who wish to get through it. There were two standout performances for me, Rylea Nevaeh Whittet, who is the youngest cast mate at 3 years old, and the breathtaking British Columbia locations. Margaret Qualley was a new face for me in the titular role and I was interested to learn she is Andie MacDowell’s daughter. I was not surprised to learn she was a dancer, however, because of one of the rare moments of pure joy in the film (I’ll let you discover that for yourself). Because of treatment of the subject matter, I think this is a must see series, which bumps up my rating to a 7.5 (important) out of 10. [Drama]
Really good watch . something real.
if she didn't have sex ,get pregnant . she would have gone to college . get better job. she would be self sufficient.
Sometimes the critics you follow let you down with their recommendations, this is an example. By no means is this a bad show, however like say Perry Mason or Westworld, it's made for a certain audience and I'm not part of the demographic. Amazing lead performance by Margaret Qualley, depending one what gets released before May, she might be a frontrunner for the Emmy next year. And Andie McDowell tries too hard to be the funny mom in the first couple of episodes but kinda pulls something great in the last bunch.
This takes a while to turn good. First four episodes are a drag and I think that's due to the writers stretching this whole thing into 10 episodes which isn't necessary for a story such as this one. Not everything needs the TV treatment, some stories are best made into features or possibly under 6 parts. Examples of this include Sharp Object and Normal People. If you're into quirky dramas, this is for you.
Definitely the series which evoked the strongest mix of feelings of despair, empathy, fear, hate and love I've ever had.... it's an absolute masterpiece and it will move me for my years to come!
If you can’t tolerate stupidity, don’t watch this show. A lot of the problems that the main character faced in the later episodes can be avoided. Margaret’s acting can be singular sometimes, there’s not much complications to her acting she simply shakes her head a lot and you can’t read awful lot from her eyes. As a person who’s not born in the west or familiar with the western family culture, it’s a good insight into how the family members can be so distant from each other and so many problems with easy solutions are made complicated(for example she could apply to other jobs but she just have to be a maid).. it’s frustrating to watch not gonna lie.
My girlfriend had me watch with her, she filled me in at episode two. I was begging her to watch by episode 4! Fantastic performance by Margaret Qually and Nick Robinson both, they manage to keep you invested with and without dialogue.
I didn't expect to be so invested in the story. Excellent! Worth the time
This is my nr 1 series. I love the depth of the story and the perfectly balanced dialogues in this. The details like the moment where Alex is at the supermarket with food stamps and behind her people are getting frustrated and laughing with her cause she is poor shows how awfull many people are , and nice she is, she pays more for a paper bag to respect the planet while she is very desperate for money. The guy after her 'just plastic please' , like a real dirtbag that doesn't give sh#t about the planet. The moment where food and phone is written on the tshirt to tell the audience what the above digits are is so nice and fun.
Margaret is killing it here. Without her this series wouldn't exist or be so good. Her performence is over the top. The moment where she gets a panic attack when coming out the crawlspace is just next level acting. Apart from the fact that she looked like a squirrel or chipmunk that moment haha... Everything about this serie is so well done. The music, the sets... Just gold.
A series that i will sherish as long as i live.
What an amazing drama series. I was totally captivated by simplicity and realism of the story, the amazing photography and directing but, most of all, the performance of Margaret Qualley. She is the pure example that less is more and that was captivating me in every episode.
As a fan of sci-fi, horror and thrillers this is not usually my go to place. But this show was special and it sits now on the top of my favourites for this year.
What a beautiful show, loved the ending.
A beautiful true story brought to live by a great cast. I only knew Margareth Qualley from the game Death Stranding, but from start to end she absolutely blows it out of the water in this show.
When everything that possibly can go wrong does go wrong--including quite a few things that really are outside the realm of possibilities. You reach a point when coincidences stop being coincidences and start being contrived.
My biggest complaint about this show, aside from the contrivance, was the dialog in the last episode. Not every character can possibly talk like they write for the New Yorker--especially a horribly hungover and detoxing guy or every woman at the domestic violence shelter. I can believe it for the main character, an aspiring writer, but it goes beyond stretching credibility for everyone else to the point of just being bad writing.
I honestly can't think of a single bad thing to say about this miniseries. It's just so good! There's great acting all around and Margaret was truly exquisite as Alex. Her performance was so subtle and charming, I empathized with her character right away and felt her pain and joy throughout the show.
The examples of domestic violence, emotional abuse, trauma bonding, toxic relationships, and neglect are all over this show, but there's also love, friendship, beauty, and a protagonist that shows you that thriving is possible, even when everything is against you.
I love when good people can flourish in spite of their trauma and suffering, in spite of everyone taking advantage of them or trying to tear them down and break their character. I love that life and the world can't turn them into their abusers or bullies.
It starts off well, original style and interesting plot, but it gets worse as the episodes go by. Even so, it is worth watching as a mini series.
After the first episode, I had to binge the whole thing!
If you like drama, this one might be for you.
For my taste, there is too much drama going on. Most of the characters are either abusers or addicts or both. Others (the mother) are just annoying. Most of the time it is really hard to watch and the stupidity of the characters makes me angry.
I am at episode 7 and it gets even more dramatic. I really try to finish this show, but I am not sure, I can.
Shout by MiirrahBlockedParent2021-10-10T15:11:15Z
An emotional rollercoaster. Alex makes me angry and sad when she fails, yet I'm still cheering for her to keep going and finally have a win. It's heavy and so relatable, even if you're not in a similar situation that's portrayed. Amazing acting, and the directing was spot on.