The Outcast

Seriously, as someone who can never get enough of English period pieces of all kinds, I came away from this thinking "what the FXCK was the point of this movie?" Total and complete waste of time. The kind of thing you keep watching because you think surely it's going to get better, this can't be it... And then, yeah, that was it. There's really nothing else to say but since I'm required to write 650 words, I'll babble on. Okay he suffered a trauma as a child, you think the story is going to unfold from that. It doesn't. His father's cold and distant. Wow, original right? There is no depth to that distance at all. He just doesn't care and sends the kid away. The kid is clearly not happy at school, but there's no depth there either. Literally just a quick flash showing you right this kid is clearly not fitting in at boarding school.. Then the stepmother seems to be really nice until all of a sudden out of nowhere she's nasty. Then boom he's a teenager and he's still just walking around sulking. There's no story development, there's no actual storyline of any kind. I don't see how anyone could give half a damn about this character because he's just an empty shell. The whole thing plays off like bullet points for a script, but then that was it. We never got anything past the bullet points. They filmed the bullet points. Spare yourself. Don't believe all the raving reviews like I did. And again, I say this as someone who rarely doesn't like any and every kind of English period piece. It's terrible!

This two part series deals with the theme of childhood trauma and subsequent attempts to reintegrate into the life of a small English village. The theme is the usual one of a misunderstood misfit. The novel might have been better, but the screen adaptation and script leaves much to be desired. It's as if the screenplay was developed from having read the novel, remembering a few events from that, then stringing those events in no special order to try a tell the story to others. There is little in the way of continuity. The actors spend a lot of time looking downcast, or just staring at one another. There's also a lot of mumbling and incoherent dialogue. It's not worth the watch! May be better to just read the novel!

As others have said the photography and other production valued are excellent, but the actual script didn't do it for me. What is up with the current dislike of dialogue. People say the acting was great. I can't really fault it, but it's not really that hard to stare at a camera and look sad, and mumble a little. There was an awful lot of that. And most of the supporting characters were just tropes.

Most of the film is unremittingly tragic, violent, and depressing. Long stretches of the protagonist's life are skipped over in a way that leaves enormous holes in his story. (Sorry, trying to avoid spoilers.)

There are a couple of nice scenes where the characters manage a three minute conversation, and one very positive "shock" moment. But that, plus a pretty girl and a bit of hope isn't enough to make it worth the interminable hell of the first 3/4 of the series.

The good old BBC has done it again... what a magnificent series, I cant think of any other 2 part series that was this gloomy, and yet beautiful and perfect in every sense of the word..., from the very beginning to the end, I cannot recollect even one misstep. George MacKay kills it as the protagonist, Lewis Aldridge. Im sure this guy is going to make it big... the range of emotions that he portrays is mind- boggling, he portrayed them all, each and every one of them. And once again manages to drive home the point why the brits are way better actors than their American counterparts. If I had to sum it all up in a sentence; Watching 'The Outcast', I didn't even blink once. PS: Not for people who don't like dark and gloomy dramas. PPS: If you are broken, then this is probably one of the best series that you will ever come across in your life.

Tonight we watched The Outcast (2015) on DVD and I think it's the best performance I've seen George McKay give cast as Lewis Aldrich who's mother tragically drowns in an accident witnessed by young Lewis played beautifully by Finn Elliot. Set in an English Village The Outcast a novel written by Sadie Jones in 2008 is gritty and powerful exploring and exposing taboo subjects in 1957 such as Parental abuse of children ,teenage self mutilation as the result of the emotional starvation of affection from a parent and physical violence and abuse and the wives and children who lived in denial and shame.

If you liked Atonement by Ian McEwan, you'll love this television adaptation from the bestselling novel from the author of The Snakes, The Outcast is a powerful portrait of unexpected love and treacherous charades against the backdrop of a sleepy post-war English village August 1957. ...

I cant understand why The Outcast and George McKay hasn't won any major awards ? My description of the basic plot may sound to gruelling to watch ,it's not though because Director Iain Softley has managed to make this 2 part Tele film beautiful to watch its set in a Midsomer village setting and the characters hold your interest Greg Wise as Gilbert Aldrich Lewis's emotionally frigid father is excellent as is Nathaniel Parker as a Dicky Carmichael a detestable excuse for a human being posing as the wealthy Village industrialist who's wife and 2 daughters guard the family's violent secret. Everyone is excellent in this film especially actresses Jessica Barden cast as Kit Carmichael who is one of the few people in the village to show understanding and kindness to the very damaged Lewis and Jessica Brown Findlay who you may remember played Lady Sybil Crawley in Downtown Abbey in The Outcast she plays Alice ,Kits stepmother who try's to help him but is unable to reach out till it's almost too late mainly due to her husbands neglect and inability to be a father. But the whole story really revolves around Lewis (George McKay) who truly is the outcast through no fault of his own who's self esteem and self worth has been eroded away by neglect and ignorance of his mental state caused by the traumatic events he experienced watching his mother die. It's little wonder that George McKay's film and television career has made him one of the most sort after actors in the business today I predict he will be as great as Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Raymond and Ben Whishaw if he keeps turning out performances in projects like The Outcast.