One Night

Is it true? Or have you created memories, because you do not want to remember what really happened?

Maybe you remember bits and pieces, how you felt at that particular night? What you thought has happened?

But then again, maybe you have blocked the whole night out in order to protect yourself?

Where is the truth between what these three women remember? Perhaps somewhere in the middle. Perhaps they do not have all the information that they need, in order to find out.

I watched this in one day, I am the same age as these women and I still find it difficult to admit that 20 years ago the concept of consent was unfamiliar territory.

This is probably one of my favorite series of all time, aptly addressing the issues of complicated female friendships, perceptions over time, and of course the prevalent issue of sexual assault and how it can impact you. Very intense, kept me wanting to keep watching each episode despite the late hour. All three leads were amazing, but Jodie Whittaker in that "one scene" where her expressions perfectly conveyed her emotional responses to what she was "listening to" ( I wont spoil it for you) just broke me.

All the characters are complex, as we are in real life, each trying their best to navigate their way after a traumatic night that robbed them of their youthful openness and joy about life.

It is so incredibly wonderful to watch stories of womens' lives told by women. Over the past few years I look for these shows. It makes me realise how profoundly accustomed we were to watching stories about women as imagined by men. Another thing I noticed was that the reviews for these shows are filled with men saying how unrealistic the characters are, and how crazy the female characters are. It's so refreshing not to be limited by those points of view, to see ourselves represented in tv drama.

This is the second thing I've watched this week showing women living with a constant threat of intimidation. I grew up as a teenager in the 70's. We had a good life, lots of freedom, but I've been thinking lately about how it was natural for us to have to be so very careful. I sometimes talk to my sister about the ways we had to act and talk and adjust ourselves to stay safe. I'm beginning to notice how much we adapted how we are in the world, and every show like this that I see shifts that dynamic.

This series is so beautifully written, directed, acted. Early on I worried about the pacing, but then a few more threads got woven in and I worried how it could all be resolved in 6 episodes. I used to live a few kilometres from where this is set, just down the road a bit. It is stunning country, and thats obvious in the scenery in this series. Makes me wonder why more tv hasn't been made in the area. The steep bluffs, the ocean, the small villages dotted along the coast, the sea cliff bridge, all create such an atmospheric background.

A couple of things that stuck out for me. All the women were very natural, hair messy, skin blemishes. The older women - the grandmothers - had sun damage, as you do living in that climate. The accents were all excellent. None of the characters were perfect, they all had their flaws which was part of the complexity of the drama. But in the end they managed to come to terms with themselves and each other. There was a lot of very positive messaging without being in any way preachy.

I watched this in 2 sittings and absolutely loved it.

I crave Australian shows because the acting is 10 times better than it is in the US for example. Don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings but aussies seem to have what it takes to make it look natural. Nothing is ever overplayed. By the way I'm French, so...

Although the storyline wasn't that exceptional, I immensely enjoyed watching some of my favourite actresses (Kat Stewart and Nicole Da Silva, Yael Stone) gathered for this occasion. Couldn't dream of a better cast!!

Also, the scenery is really breathtaking.

I definitely want (no, NEED) more of these productions.

Okay I'll go check IMDB now!

The scenery is beautiful and the actors put their soul into the roles but the overall effect somehow doesn't connect. I don't understand how anyone can have PTSD of a event which they have no memory of, and its never explained in the series. The whole premise is of 3 friends who had a bad experience one night , one of them getting raped when she was unconscious and leaving the town after that. They meet 20 years after and have to relive the events in their mind and life as one of them Simone chooses to publish a book about it.

The younger versions certainly seem to have bonding but I could see no genuine connection between them as adults. And Simone keeps saying it's also her story, no its not because she is the only one who is not in trouble because of the book or the night. Try as hard as I might , I could not empathize with Jodie Whittaker's adult character because the younger version is shown bold and doesn't even have memory of the event.

Frankly "Hat" is the only character whose concerns seemed genuine.

And then there is this token Asian character who is a weasel trying to garner publicity at the expense of the anonymity of the writer.