Dark comedy about the eccentric members of the Flowers family. Maurice and Deborah are barely together but yet to divorce. They live with Maurice's batty mother and their maladjusted twin children.
The take
It starts off with a man failing at hanging himself from a fruit tree in a bleak-looking garden. Something this grotesque isn't usually the stuff of sitcoms. This is unsurprising because Will Sharpe's Flowers, produced for the British Channel 4, is not your usual sitcom. With a unique visual style, an extraordinary cast, and a dark, satirical script, it carves out a genre of its own. The always amazing Olivia Colman plays Deborah Flowers, the eccentric family's matriarch, and a music teacher. The man trying to hang himself is her depressed and unfaithful husband Maurice (Julian Barratt), who is a children's book author. They live in a ramshackle house with a Japanese butler, who barely speaks English, and their dysfunctional adult twins. Amidst all this glorious mess, Flowers is ultimately about mental illness and depression and is apt in pairing this disturbing reality with hilarity. Obviously, it is very dark. A bit too dark for comedy, and too mad for drama: truly original stuff.
A level of attention to aesthetics usually reserved for the most elaborate films, mixed with a complex and relevant story, make this series from Turkey unmatched in its quality
9.9
Caliphate
A psychological thriller that provides insight on what drove so many young people to ISIS.
8.9
Government Cheese
An ambitious family in 1960s California chase their dreams in this whimsical series
7.6
Occupied
Norway's most expensive show ever is a timely thrill ride with a grim geopolitical premise.
8.7
Unorthodox
A well-acted fact-based thriller about untangling the grip of a close-knit community
8.5
Pretend it’s a City
A wildly entertaining series of interviews with a New York legend
9.2
Escape at Dannemora
Based on a true prison escape story, this slow-burn suspense thriller features once-in-a-lifetime performances by a star-studded cast
9.3
Unbelievable
Critics lauded the angle and feminist edge of this grim true crime miniseries.
8.8
Sex Education
Already a future classic, Sex Education is an explicit but endlessly charming teen comedy that will also teach adults a thing or two.