Critical Condition: Kiri

Kiri | SoHo, 9.30 Monday

➢ “Jack Thorne’s probing new series deconstructs the issue of transracial adoption and examines the nature and behaviour of the social care sector and the British media. The story at the centre of it all is the monumental fall-out which follows the abduction of a nine-year-old black girl named Kiri, who is about to be adopted by her white foster family … Sarah Lancashire’s portrayal of a deeply troubled social worker will propel her towards national treasure status.” — Radio Times.

➢ “It’s strange to call an essentially tragic limited series magical, but the word applies to Kiri. The four-part series fits squarely into the top tier of U.K. crime dramas, which means few characters start out with any contentment, and things deteriorate from there. But Jack Thorne’s writing never slides into the lazy habits of misery porn. Kiri is both brisk and illuminating, providing compassionate and honest character studies.” — Variety.

➢ “The genius of Thorne’s writing is that he plays to his viewers’ assumptions and then pulls the rug out from underneath them, exposing their own biases in the process … Kiri, a gripping drama, also takes some of the most loaded subjects in contemporary culture and widens the debate around them. No one, Thorne presents, should get to feel comfortable when the stakes are so high.” — The Atlantic.

➢ “It was riveting. Far from relying on soothing moral platitudes, Thorne’s script was a complex study of human frailty, concerned with raising difficult but vital questions. In someone else’s hands, it may have felt didactic; instead it was open-minded, allowing the viewer to forge their own opinions.” — The Telegraph.

➢ “Of all the caring professions, social workers probably have the blackest humour. And need it the most. So it feels appropriate that the beautifully observed and not-as-grim-as-expected Kiri opens with a small dark laugh. The kind that tugs at the corners of the mouth where sadness also resides.” — The Guardian.