The Honourable Woman

If you watched Homeland, you might recall that the central question was whether the main character was good or bad. In The Honourable Woman, the question is whether anybody is good or bad.

With Maggie Gyllenhaal in the Golden-Globe-winning leading role, this Netflix/BBC production centers in on Nessa Stein, the heiress to a large arms company involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. When her father is assassinated, Stein aims to keep the business alive by diversifying it, essentially moving it away from the war business, and is met with fierce opposition. Her life becomes even more dangerous when a secret from her past comes to haunt her.

Created by the multi-talented actor/writer Hugo Blick, the writing of this British miniseries effortlessly dodges stereotypes and easy answers and builds a balanced complexity that’s never boring. With extremely well-crafted characters, you will find yourself on the edge, never feeling completely safe with any one of them. The perfect ingredients for a top-level political thriller.

Nessa Stein, the daughter of a Zionist arms procurer who as a child witnessed his assassination. Now an adult, Nessa inherits her father's company and changes course from supplying arms to laying data cabling networks between Israel and the West Bank. Her efforts to reconcile the Israelis and Palestinians lands her an appointment to the House of Lords and creates an international political maelstrom.