Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Ella Purnell. Nicôle Lecky, Jon Pointing, Lorraine Burroughs, Jeremy Swift, Tim Samuels, Lydia Whitehead, Calam Lynch, Leah Harvey, Nitin Ganatra, Dustin Demri-Burns, Alexander Bellinfantie, Elliot Cable, Jessys Romeo, Lucy Heath, Jessica Brindle, Dino Kelly, Ingrid Oliver, Olivia Brady, Alexandra Dowling, Amelie Bea Smith, Lily Morales-Lee, Coco Sully, Judi Love, Rachel Lumberg, Luke McGibney, Marissa Hussain, Matthew Hawksley, Gillian Axtell, Omar Ibrahim, Luke Kempner, Sam Ducane.
Inside every woman, so the influencers, the press, and other significant drivers of information will gladly inform you, is a raging monster ready to unleash hell as they find their voice and demand to be seen; and when that happens the fallout is impressive, it can be lethal, it can be murder.
Adapted from the novel by CJ Skuse, Sweetpea is a thrilling six-part drama that delves into the psychology of the forgotten and the looked over, a reminder that in today’s world we have all become lost within the noise, that our belief is systematically being eroded, and whether man or woman, the validation of expression or of the deeply intimate thought is a powerful reminder to not dwell within the mindset of the psychopath.
The dark comedy sees Ella Purnell, who has been riding high in the public opinion thanks to her role as Jackie Taylor in the hit series Yellowjackets, take on the role of the grieving Rhiannon. Everybody in her life has found ways to oppress her, from her sister who glories in her own achievements at the expense of hers, the editor of her newspaper who refuses to see her anything but a secretary, and the bullies at school who made her life a misery, and when a man finally tips her over the edge the unspoken thought that has been in her mind, her kill list, suddenly becomes an achievable and mouth watering proposition.
Sweetpea doesn’t take prisoners, it highlights the misogyny, the fierce battles fought through youth, and which shapes the adult long after the abuse has been overlooked by everybody else, and in Ella Purnell the viewer has a grounding in how the disrespected fight back when they finally snap.
Ms. Purnell’s appreciation of the role is impressive, and as she becomes more embroiled in the darker side of life, so the glee in her heart rises, and it leaves the viewer transfixed on her actions. Her interaction with actors such as the redoubtable Jeremy Swift, Nicôle Lecky, Leah Harvey, and Ingrid Oliver, are outstanding, and gives the series the lift to another level that it thoroughly deserves.
To adapt such a novel is a right of the viewer’s understanding of the mechanism behind serial killers and the path of the psychopath, and whilst billed as a black comedy, there is a large and disturbing truth attached to it, a wary sign for any person to recognise.
A superbly engaging series, Sweetpea is fearsome and profoundly of our times, the anger that burns within us all, the constant ignoring of our pains and dreams; the only surprise is that there aren’t more young women exploding with visible fury around.
Ian D. Hall