Richard Gadd comes back with Half Man, a series, two years after Baby Reindeer was a success.
The series starts with a scene that sets the tone for the rest of the show. Richard Gadd plays Ruben, a man who’s volatile and scary and he shows up at his brothers wedding on a farm in Scotland. Just being there he creates tension. You can tell he is angry and that something bad could happen at any moment.
From the first scene the story makes you feel uneasy. You think something is going to go and a lot of the time it does. The show is intense most of the time, which makes it hard to watch. You cannot look away.
The relationship between the two stepbrothers is complex and disturbing. This story is not based on Richard Gadds life like Baby Reindeer was. In Half Man Richard Gadd plays the guy, not the victim. Ruben and his stepbrother Niall, played by Jamie Bell grow up together after their mothers start dating.
The series jumps back and forth between the past and the present. It is toxic based on fear and loyalty and needing each other emotionally.
Each episode moves the story forward to the wedding. This way of telling the story keeps you interested. Helps you understand their relationship better.
Half Man is some heavy topics, like what it means to be a man, who you are and trauma. The show looks at masculinity, emotions that are suppressed and struggles with sexual identity.
Richard Gadd does not want you to feel sorry, for these men he wants you to understand them. That makes the story more powerful. It makes you think.
