Landscapers

A strange adaptation mixing fantasy with reality but I'm not really sure that it worked.

It wasn't badly acted or anything but i think I'd have preferred a more traditional handling of the subject.

This show held me until episode 4, when it all but descended into farce and got too clever for its own good.

It could easily have been told in 3 taut episodes. For me the breaking of the 4th wall in ep4 (which began in ep3) didn't belong, and was an unnecessary distraction.

"Landscapers" four episode HBO miniseries tells the desperate, surreal, and very human love story surrounding a grisly double murder found fifteen years late. While based on a true story, and ultimately containing chilling elements, "Landscapers" remains a complex and touching dramatization however it might lean into the overly ideal. But it's an artful idealism which also reflects the character of the perpetrators and which may factor into the nature of the crime just as much as "mercenary" motives might.

Whatever was the truth behind the crimes of Susan and Chris Edwards (they maintain their innocence until this day), the version this TV drama does tell a meaningful and multifaceted story that sheds light on compulsions, brokenness, and unconscious choices which may lead people to choose prison over the struggles of their lives, even while not necessarily meaning to either.

Whether or not the portrayal of this true crime is accurate doesn't undermine that this is a very earnest attempt to find some decency in what is two people linked by sadness, care and a terrible secret, all while being too hapless to manage their affairs or their own trial. The question might always be would the crime of the Edwards remain undetected after elapsing fifteen years if not for the betrayal of a troubled conscious, or the lack of wherewithal to make ends meet?

As Episode 1 of "Landscapers" (2021 release from the UK; 4 episodes of about 55 min each) opens, we are told upfront what the outcome of these events are, so there is no need for guessing how it's all going to end. We are then introduced to Susan, who is browsing an antique store somewhere in France (Lille, we learn later). She buys a rare movie poster. Back at the apartment, her husband Christopher comes home from yet another wasted day trying to find a job. Christopher tells Susan that things are dire and they are just about out of money, not to mention late on their rent. He decides to call his stepmother back in the UK to beg for financial help... At this point we are 1o min into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this tv mini-series in based on true events (in the closing credits of Episode 1, we get actual news clips from various British TV stations). As mentioned already, we are told in the opening seconds what the final outcome for Susan and Christopher will be, so in other words, it's not about the ending but instead about Susan's and Christopher's journey to the ending. For sure this mini-series in very dark and oh so very British. That combination seems to have prompted a number of 1 and 2 star reviews on here, to which I say: "you wouldn't spot quality if it hit you in the face". The talent that is attached to this mini-series is amazing, none more so than Olivia Colman as Susan (Colman was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in last year's "The Father"). This series is written and directed by Ed Sinclair (a/k/a Colman's husband in real life). The role of Christopher is played by veteran British actor David Thewlis. Bottom line: there is a lot to like about this TV mini-series, and I can't wait to see the rest of Susan's and Christopher's journey.

"Landscapers" premiered on HBO just a few days ago, and Episode 1 is now available on HBO On Demand and HBO Max (where I caught it last night). If you are in the mood for a true crime series that is dark and very British, I'd readily suggest you check it out, and draw your own conclusion.

I often find British crime dramas to either be so desaturatedly bleak that they're a slog to watch, or too cartoonish to take seriously - Landscapers is neither and instead takes its filmic cue from the murderous couple's adoration for old romance and westerns. As such the four episode miniseries is alive with action scenes, arch fourth wall deconstructions, monochrome melodrama, soft focus romanticism and everything in between. Its layered restlessness accompanied by some charged performances and a deep empathy for the characters (and people) gave it a strange charm and I found myself completely won over by it. Definitely worth a gander.