Say Nothing: 'sensational' dramatisation of Patrick Radden Keefe's bestselling book
The Disney+ series is a 'powerful reminder' of the Troubles
A history, a tragedy and at times a brutal thriller, Disney's nine-part series is a "sensational" amalgam, said Benji Wilson in The Daily Telegraph. Adapted from Patrick Radden Keefe's acclaimed non-fiction book about the Troubles, it weaves together at least seven narratives, with characters including Gerry Adams, the IRA bombers Dolours and Marian Price, and Jean McConville, the widowed mother of ten who was bundled into a van in 1972 and never seen alive again.
It begins as "thrilling" cops-and-robbers stuff: the IRA members of the 1970s are presented as folk heroes taking on the "stuffed-shirt" Brits, and there is a needling sense that the conflict is being romanticised; but stick with it, because the series develops into something more "elegiac and profound".
This "ultimately sober-minded" series is a powerful reminder of a tragic era, said Ed Power in The Irish Times. It accepts the romantic appeal of the IRA's cause to people like Dolours Price – played with "devilish energy" as a young woman by Lola Petticrew and as a "guilt-ridden shell" by Maxine Peake – but it does not neglect the IRA's victims.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
I disagree, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian: the series is indeed highly watchable, but it's too sympathetic to its main characters. The Price sisters, for instance, were involved in a bomb attack on the Old Bailey in 1973 in which around 200 people were injured, yet there is little reckoning with that: "'Say Nothing' comes to feel as though it has left too much unsaid."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Living the 'pura vida' in Costa Rica
The Week Recommends From thick, tangled rainforest and active volcanoes to monkeys, coatis and tapirs, this is a country with plenty to discover
By Dominic Kocur Published
-
Without Cuba, US State Sponsors of Terrorism list shortens
The Explainer How the remaining three countries on the U.S. terrorism blacklist earned their spots
By David Faris Published
-
Crossword: January 21, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
A family tour of Rajasthan by train
The Week Recommends The 'cacophonous, kaleidoscopic' cities of India are fascinating to explore
By The Week UK Published
-
The best new cars for 2025
The Week Recommends From family SUVs to luxury all-electrics these are the most hotly anticipated vehicles
By The Week UK Published
-
Babygirl: Nicole Kidman stars in 'riveting' erotic thriller
The Week Recommends 'The sex and the silliness' is quite fun, but it's 'ploddingly predictable stuff'
By The Week UK Published
-
Smoked haddock soufflé recipe
The Week Recommends Velvety soft soufflé has a delicate and enticing flavour
By The Week UK Published
-
Forbidden Territories: an 'ambitious and ingenious' exhibition
The Week Recommends 'Extravaganza' of a show features an array of works celebrating 100 years of surrealist landscapes
By The Week UK Published
-
Jonathan Sumption shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The medieval historian recommends works by Edward Gibbon, Johan Huizinga and others
By The Week UK Published
-
A Real Pain: Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg star in 'uproariously funny' drama
The Week Recommends The film, dubbed an heir of Woody Allen, follows Jewish American cousins who travel to Poland in memory of their late grandmother
By The Week UK Published
-
Titaníque: 'outrageous' Céline Dion parody is a lot of fun
The Week Recommends 'Frothy' musical spoof of the blockbuster film with 'sparkling' performances
By The Week UK Published