Fifteen-Love

Wow. Aidan Turner expertly pulls off the most accurate depiction of how a narcissist manipulates and controls their victims. The writing and acting was spot on to perfectly display the many layers of this personality disorder: the love bombing, controlling, facade of gentleness, caring and protectiveness. Plus the underlying immense insecurities and self-loathing that these people feel which culminates into their own self-destruction.

Excellent, heartfelt and gut wrenching acting by the young stars in this show as well. Bravo to the writers, the cast, and to Prime for making this important show.

I'll admit I only started watching this because it had Aidan Turner in it - and as actor I admire his talent.

No offence to him or to Ella Lily Hyland (or any of the other actors) because it's not their ability as actors that ruin this.

I get that this is important issue, and that the plot in itself was topical. But what on earth happened from its inception to the final production?

It's just dire. I don't know if I'm even going to bother watching the last 3 episodes because I just find it so incredibly predictable, boring and mind numbing. It could have been so much better. That's my word count reached so I'll leave it there.

Despite the scathing reviews from the mainstream media, I trusted my instincts and stuck it out for the entire six sets. Yes, there were quite a few unforced errors in the plot and more than a couple of double faults in the editing. Ella Lily Hyland, however was absolutely amazing. She literally smashed it out of the court. Vulnerable and venomous, victim and aggressor, her voice, movement and expression were captivating. Such was her presence, I felt that I had truly known this almost unknown actress for years.

The plot was predictable but worthy. Other acting was less so. One can understand how Aidan Turner became more famous for his torso than his acting ability. Other members of the cast were more caricatures than characters.

Despite being slow at parts, the characters, the acting, the story is so incredibly captivating. They've shone a light on a difficult topic that needs to be brought into the public conscious and you can really tell that the cast were passionate about doing this story right.

I'm looking forward to seeing more from Ella (Justine) and Maria (Luisa) in the future. They captured their character's vulnerability, fear, hope and a whole rollercoaster of emotions so well, even during some particularly difficult scenes - I hope there was mental health support available on and off set! Aiden Turner was also fantastic as always - menacing in his role as Glenn.

The production quality is superb in all respects. Quality of the dialogue, acting, photography, sound, etc., all first rate. What impressed and engaged me even more was the deft handling of the psychological complexity of the abuse of trust and position of power. We as audience could experience all the grey realities experienced by the victim in what is clearly, seen afterward and from outside, a violent attack on a helpless prey. As bystander, it is easy to ask, "Why didn't you say no?" or some variation of it. This showed how reductive it is to think that way. Predators are like Venus fly traps, luring in their victims, but with psychological domination as the sweet syrup. The rape is as much psychic as physical, as are the wounds it leaves behind. This should be required reading in high schools everywhere.