If there’s one thing we’ll all be talking about in the months to come, it’s I May Destroy You, the insanely hyped new show from British director / writer / actress Michaela Coel. The comedy-drama has been called everything from “astonishing” and “thrilling” to “a stunning depiction of the aftermath of sexual assault”. And yes, it’s finally available in Australia.
All 12 episodes have landed on Binge as of right this very second, so cancel your plans tonight, skive off work early, and finally understand what everyone has been raving about.
I May Destroy You, which Coel not only starred in but created, wrote, co-directed and executive produced as well, follows the story of Arabella (Coel), a Twitter-famous writer and ‘millennial icon’.
One night, while facing a looming deadline for her second book, Arabella goes out with some friends in London. The next day, she wakes up and hazily remembers a sexual assault took place. The 12-episode arc follows her piecing that night together, while exploring what consent means in a perpetually shifting landscape.
To say it has gotten rave reviews is an understatement. The New York Times called Coel “impossible to turn away from”. The Guardian speculated that it could be the best drama of the year. It’s being touted as the next Fleabag / Phoebe Waller-Bridge sensation. The NY Times said
“It’s a groundbreaking model of how to honour the complexities of sexual trauma on TV without succumbing to lecture or exploitation,” the Boston Globe said.
“Nothing can touch it at the moment,” tweeted Suzanne Moore, a writer for The Guardian (but not the same person who wrote the five-star review). “Nothing.”
I recommend watching “I May Destroy You” on HBO because holy shit it’s good.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) July 6, 2020
https://twitter.com/quintabrunson/status/1280182241046355969
I MAY DESTROY YOU
FLEABAG
PEN15
BROAD CITY
The best shows happen when you let women with an actual point of view do whatever the fuck they want.— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) June 30, 2020
https://twitter.com/suzanne_moore/status/1277751896007196674
“I may destroy you” is truly one of the most important tv shows i’ve ever watched. it’s raw, funny, heartbreaking, uncomfortable & devastatingly real. forewarning, it may be triggering for survivors, i have to mentally prepare myself to watch, but i believe it’s worth it
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) July 7, 2020
I May Destroy You was a joint production between BBC One and HBO, meaning audiences in the UK and the US are currently enjoying what appears to be the Next Big Thing That Will Scoop Every Single Emmy.
How to Watch I May Destroy You in Australia
All 12 episodes of the series are now available on Binge. Don’t have an account? Sign up here, it’s $10 per month.
However, people should be warned that it might be confronting or even triggering for survivors of sexual assault. I May Destroy You is not a consent story in the traditional sense of the word.
It’s based off Coel’s own experience in 2016, when, on a break from pulling an all-nighter to hit a deadline, her drink was spiked and she was sexually assaulted. She returned to work (writing the second season of award-winning comedy Chewing Gum) in a haze, and finished the episode in what she later realised was a drug-induced state.
“I May Destroy You is the culmination of her attempt to make sense of the senseless — an epic journey of autofiction that manages to somehow be both of the moment and beyond it,” Vulture’s E. Alex Jung wrote in a phenomenal interview with the writer.
Playwright Jeremy O. Harris put in this way on Twitter: “One of the things I love most about I May Destroy You is that the show rejects conventional tv logics [because] everything about assault rejects logic.”
One of the things I love most about I MAY DESTROY YOU is that the show rejects conventional tv logics bc everything about assault rejects logic.
— playwright/novelist jeremy o harris (@jeremyoharris) July 1, 2020
One example of this is the moment Arabella realises she’s been drugged and had her drink spiked. Her response? A detached “huh”.
I May Destroy You explores the psychological and emotional effects of multiple types of sexual assault in such an incredibly realistic way I cannot explain just please go watch it everyone
— maybe: sidney prescott (@swampmonstr) July 7, 2020
We’re not going to spoil anything (which is basically impossible, because the only way to have watched I May Destroy You from Australia is to do so illegally, and we would never encourage that), but it’s a show that will take you to some very unexpected places.
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To speak to someone about sexual assault, please call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732, which is the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence hotline for men and women.
