#Cast of i may destroy you series

The other way in which this show was exceptionally written lies in its details and commitment to the authentic portrayal of women’s lives. This is heart-breaking, but is so good to see represented. They simply assume she is lazy or difficult. There is no romanticism in the reaction of those around her-nobody is insisting there is something wrong or that she is behaving out of character. This, too, is an intensely honest display of how somebody might be treated before disclosing their assault. Arabella’s employers completely miss the signs that something is seriously wrong, despite her showing up to work with a cut on her forehead, and instead start to push her and ask why her work is taking so long. It is well-documented that this kind of flashback is very typical in sexual assault victims, but I have never seen the experience displayed quite so authentically on-screen.Īrabella continues to show up to work, and, unlike other shows that often romanticise the support and care show by others before the assault is even disclosed, I May Destroy You really gives us an insight into how alone and isolated survivors can feel. Triggered by things in her everyday life, such as opening her door, the flashbacks and intense and Arabella is disturbed. The experience comes back to her in fragments, but she does not immediately piece them together into an understanding of what happened. Soon after she starts to experience flashbacks of an attack that happened to her in the bathroom of the venue she had visited with her friends.

Arabella and Terry, I May Destroy You (Photograph by Natalie Seery/HBO) She is already having flashbacks of things that happened during the night. She seems concerned and uncomfortable, and has damage to her phone that she can’t remember happening. However, as time progresses, she begins to question the friends she was out with-asking questions about the night and about how the night ended. She stumbles into work early in the morning after going out seeming disorientated and hungover, but there is not yet any indication that anything is really wrong. Nevertheless, she seems happy, carefree, and broadly as though her life is going well.Įverything changes after a night out. She has an important deadline coming up, but seems to be behind with her draft. She is spending time with her friends, has just been on holiday in Italy, and seems to be enjoying her job.

We first meet Arabella as a young writer enjoying her life. The show also touches upon stealthing, police disinterest, and the importance of support networks. We are also given insight into the lives of her peers, some of whom are also in sexually exploitative situations. The story follows her as she pieces together what has happened to her and considers the emotional fallout of the experience. She is a girl who has been assaulted in a bar, and is now suffering the deep-seated consequences of the attack. Coel won an Emmy earlier this year for writing the show, and in her acceptance speech dedicated the story to survivors of sexual assault.Īrabella’s story is told in 12 episodes. Since its release in June 2020, the show has gone on to win and be nominated for dozens of awards. Written by Michaela Coel, known for Chewing Gum, I May Destroy You is a story about main character Arabella’s sexual assault.

#Cast of i may destroy you series

I knew the series was focused on sexual assault, but I wasn’t prepared for what I watched.

Before I had watched Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You, I had been told to expect something special.