This England (2022)

[James Luckard]

The excellent miniseries THIS ENGLAND will be released on February 20 by Dazzler:



(The listing on the website here still has the old release date of Jan 30)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Englan...dp/B0BMWC5PF8/

It's a difficult watch, but very powerful.

While Kenneth Branagh stars as Boris Johnson, he's only in maybe 1/3 of the series, it's not just about the halls of power. It's an epic portrait of the entire UK health system as it deals with the first wave of COVID and nearly collapses. Winterbottom said they interviewed people across the country, and that the fictionalized narratives set in hospitals, care homes (nursing homes) and private homes across the UK all come from the accounts of survivors and family members.

I found it very moving, but be prepared, it doesn't really have a narrative structure. It's somewhat like Contagion, moving back and forth betweewn dozens of characters trying to combat the growing pandemic, but there are also lengthy sequences with ordinary people. It can become a tiny bit hard to follow all the strands at times, because there are so many, but I found it very powerful.

Michael Winterbottom co-wrote and produced it, and intended to direct the entire series, but had to pull out early in filming due to health issues. The miniseries was completed by three other directors who are also former collaborators of his: frequent "The Crown" director Julian Jarrold, Winterbottom's usual second unit director Anthony Wilcox, and documentary filmmaker Mat Whitecross.