Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Tom Hollander, Saskia Reeves, Tom Taylor, Gina Bramhill, Iain De Caestecker, Thaddea Graham, Sophie Grabol, Giuseppe Bonifati, Charlotte Spencer, Amaia Aguinaga, Charlie Archer, Frank Assi, Rachel Coutinho, Joe Dixon, Daniel Fearn, Andrew Hawley, Severine Howell-Meri, Jason Langley, Dylan Mitchell, Lucia Saavedra, George Webster.
A coming of age story is not exclusively one told from the perspective of the young adult who has successfully navigated life’s early lessons, only to find that they now face a tougher set of questions, set-backs and revelations; in deed age is no barrier to that one moment in life where everything you thought you were, all that you have strived to be, is nothing more than a minefield of quandaries, difficulties and heart breaking realisations.
It is not always a question of who is at fault when a relationship breaks down, but what can be done to minimise the fallout, what effect it will have on those who didn’t see it coming, and the pain that will fester if the silence continues.
Rather than focusing on the destructive side of such an event, Us takes the opportunity to invest in the drama with a more mature outlook, if not a positive spin, then at least with a sense of developing and considered responsibility.
The fall-out from any breakdown can be overwhelming, but for Douglas Petersen it is a double whammy that he has to navigate as he prepares to travel round Europe for three weeks with a wife who wants to separate, and a son to whom he not been able to communicate with since before he was a teenager. A hard enough task at the best of times, akin to the labour of Sisyphus as he was punished for eternity to roll a boulder up a hill, only to see it fall down the other side and start again; the only difference for Douglas Petersen, played magnificently by the consistent and unswerving Tom Hollander, is that Sisyphus didn’t have to contend with the emotional luggage of a family falling apart.
With excellent performances by the whole main ensemble, including Saskia Reeves as Douglas’ wife, Connie, Gina Bramhill as the young Connie, and Tom Taylor as Douglas’ artistic but troubled and angry son Albie, Tom Hollander was able to truly show off his enormous range of talent in a series that quite honestly suited him right down to the ground.
Us, the problem always lays with that sense of separation that the word implies, normally against the world, against the forces of derision, but in this case a simple drifting apart at the seams as the world around Douglas becomes undone. Beautifully written, with absolute care and attention. In the end it can happen to any of us, the slow decay revealing that in any given relationship us still only means one can speak.
Ian D. Hall