When comedy writing duo and siblings Daisy May Cooper and her brother Charlie created and starred in British mockumentary series This Country, its undeniable success showed that there was something to be said for keeping it in the family. The pair had proven there was nothing like a real-life bond to guarantee a dynamic and believable comedic relationship on screen.
So, with one successful series under her belt, Cooper is back with her latest six-episode offering Am I Being Unreasonable? alongside her co-writer and real-life friend Selin Hizli, putting her winning formula to the test once again, this time with a decidedly darker bent.
Co-writer Daisy May Cooper as Nic. Source: Copbury Productions / BBC
Taken from the ever popular, always dramatic section of a well-known parenting forum, the series’ title is the question we have been conditioned to ask when searching for reassurance, not honesty: essentially, tell me my feelings are valid so I can feel better about the decisions I want to make.
It’s all protagonist of the series and struggling mum Nic (Daisy May Cooper) wants to hear as she finds herself stuck in an unhappy marriage, crippled by loneliness, and desperately seeking something more than the mundanity of her daily life. Though her love for her son Ollie (Lenny Rush) keeps her going, Nic can’t help but dwell on the intensity of a past love and is paralysed by a secret grief she is unable to share. Is she a horrible person for feeling this way? The stakes are far too high to find out.
That is until she befriends new school mum Jen (Selin Hizli), whose arrival in Nic’s life is both unexpected and much needed. It’s that rare and wonderful type of friendship where the connection is instant, and within just moments of meeting, Nic shares with Jen truths that have been hidden for far too long.
Selin Hizli as Jen. Source: Copbury Productions / BBC
Dustin Demri-Burns plays Nic’s husband Dan. Source: Copbury Productions / BBC
The many, many drinks they consume together may have helped break down a few barriers, too. Cue a prize-winning hangover and instant overshare regret, not to mention a familiar level of embarrassment, but when Nic asks if her inebriated confessions could be kept on the downlow, Jen reassures Nic that she has her back. Nic can tell her anything.
Despite Jen’s reassurances, the more time they spend together and the further Jen embeds herself in Nic’s life, the more Nic can’t shake the feeling that something is not quite right about her new best friend. Why would this person she has just met be so invested in her and Dan’s marriage troubles? What are the chances of two people having the exact same coat? And why does nobody seem to know much about the mysterious Jen, even those supposedly close to her? It’s these questions that initiate a perfectly balanced blend of the comedic and the thrilling, as Nic’s suspicions about Jen quickly turn this once promising friendship into a complex web of secrets.
Lenny Rush as Ollie. Source: Copbury Productions / BBC
What sustains Am I Being Unreasonable? from beginning to end is more than just relatable characters dealing with relatable problems, though admittedly it’s hard to go past a quality female-fronted series. Rather, it’s that it manages to stay both hilarious and gripping in its depiction of the subjectivity of truth, and how we each manipulate it to suit our own narrative, often to the extent that we begin to believe our own deceptions.
Nic’s paranoia about Jen is, at times, both laughable and disturbing, and likewise Jen’s bizarre antics are as comedic as they could be sinister. What is really going on, nobody is quite sure, but one thing is certain: the truth will out eventually, whether Nic likes it or not.
Nic and Jen happen to have the same coat. Is it just a coincidence? Source: Copbury Productions / BBC
Thanks to the benefit of multiple perspectives and an unwavering commitment to the depth of this story, Cooper and Hizli craft complex characters that are far more than they first appear. Executive produced by one of TV’s most exciting talents, Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials), Am I Being Unreasonable? is perfectly twisted, often brilliant, and completely mad viewing at times, but in the best, most binge-worthy way.
Am I Being Unreasonable? premiered in Australia and is streaming now. Double episodes are also airing on Monday nights on SBS VICELAND from 13 March.
