NW

Zadie Smith’s 2012 novel, NW gets the BBC treatment starring Nikki Amuka-Bird (Luther), Phoebe Fox, O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale, The Five, Looking), Cyril Gueï, and Jake Fairbrother. All the components of a stellar issue-driven drama were in place – council flats girls make good, people of color having to be perfect to succeed, pressure to do what is expected, lives broken by systemic poverty and drug use. The actors did their job. In the end, the stories didn’t mesh. It felt like the writer bit off more than she could chew in 90 minutes. Too bad because NW could have been great. Riddled with too many disparate moments which didn’t mesh, I’m giving this a 2 out of 5. Next.