Content Warning: This article discusses sexual assault, and rape. If you or someone you know are affected by the following story, you are not alone. To speak to someone, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
I May Destroy You, the HBO and BBC show everyone outside of Australia was buzzing about, is now available to binge here.
Since debuting in June, creator Michaela Coel’s show has dominated discussion on social media. I May Destroy You follows Arabella (Michaela Coel), a young victim of sexual assault.
She’s an iconic Millennial novelist who found fame with her debut book. We meet her just as she struggles to meet the deadline for her follow-up book.
Looking to relieve some of the stress, she meets up with some friends for a night out in London. The next morning, Arabella struggles to recall exactly what happened to her. She tries to piece together the night’s events with the help of her friends Terry (Weruche Opia) and Kwame (Paapa Essiedu).
It’s a deeply personal, extremely nuanced and intelligent examination of sexual assault. Quite simply it’s a masterpiece and will definitively be remembered as one of the greatest television shows of the 21st century.
As usual, we were late to proceedings. The British and Americans got to the show before us but now our time has come. The perfectly-named Binge, the new Australian streaming service, has the show ready to be consumed immediately by all Binge subscribers.
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Be warned though: despite its difficult subject matter, it’s almost impossible to stop watching I May Destroy You. Coel’s writing and storytelling are just too strong. Prepare to watch all 12 episodes in one go. That’s around six hours of television but we think you’ve got what it takes.
Coel recently discussed the parallels between herself and Arabella in an interview with Vulture.
“What does closure look like? It’s not that it ends,” Coel told the publication in July. “For me, I look at the last four years and I feel this overwhelming sense of euphoria and pain.”