The Outcast

The good old BBC has done it again... what a magnificent series, I cant think of any other 2 part series that was this gloomy, and yet beautiful and perfect in every sense of the word..., from the very beginning to the end, I cannot recollect even one misstep. George MacKay kills it as the protagonist, Lewis Aldridge. Im sure this guy is going to make it big... the range of emotions that he portrays is mind- boggling, he portrayed them all, each and every one of them. And once again manages to drive home the point why the brits are way better actors than their American counterparts. If I had to sum it all up in a sentence; Watching 'The Outcast', I didn't even blink once. PS: Not for people who don't like dark and gloomy dramas. PPS: If you are broken, then this is probably one of the best series that you will ever come across in your life.

This is not an easy drama to watch....but the rewards make it all worthwhile. Yes, it starts off a bit slow. You have to adjust yourself to the pace and, for lack of a better word, the quietness of the piece. The score is fairly minimal, aside from a few intense strains that play during moments of torment for the main character. And it works perfectly.

No one says more than they need to, and the silences enrich the drama. This is a story of people who have secrets, who struggle to express themselves and communicate. There is no unneeded expository dialogue; it trusts the viewers to pay attention. And the visual setting, the performances, the story are so riveting that you can't stop paying attention.

The acting is consistently wonderful. I agree with another reviewer who said it took some adjusting to MacKay as Older Lewis and JBF as Alice, but I can't fault either of them for that. Alice almost dropped out of the sky (one reviewer said it was like Gilbert had ordered her from Harrods, LOL), so it made sense that she seemed awkward at first. And MacKay is not only much older than Finn Elliot but does not particularly resemble him. So to me, that was more a matter of how they were introduced than of the acting.

MacKay is quite brilliant, and I was very impressed with Greg Wise. The secondary characters are seamless and strong. Jessica Bardem is thoroughly winning. And JBF really hit her stride in the scene in the restaurant with Young Lewis (around the middle of the first episode) and never broke it after that. Alice became a compelling character in what is, IMO, her best performance to date. Granted I have not seen everything she's done, but this was a great showcase for her talent and I think she is growing exponentially as an actress.

When it came to and end I felt like I had just watched a classic. In retrospect the entire story became an almost perfect whole and it stayed with me. I watched it again and enjoyed it even more the second time. Haunting, beautiful, bittersweet. Just a wonderful series.

This two part series deals with the theme of childhood trauma and subsequent attempts to reintegrate into the life of a small English village. The theme is the usual one of a misunderstood misfit. The novel might have been better, but the screen adaptation and script leaves much to be desired. It's as if the screenplay was developed from having read the novel, remembering a few events from that, then stringing those events in no special order to try a tell the story to others. There is little in the way of continuity. The actors spend a lot of time looking downcast, or just staring at one another. There's also a lot of mumbling and incoherent dialogue. It's not worth the watch! May be better to just read the novel!

You know, past sometime kick brain hard and it make life feels disturbed. In this movie, Lewis Aldridge (George MacKay) is one of many example that proves past can't be forgotten easily. And people around who knew our past acts like we should be strong in life, but in other way, we're weak and can't be helped in harsh/hard way. Lewis Aldridge also pictures how if someone broken because left by his loved one. And he tries so many times to change himself, but he just can't because it is not easy and his social are giving "f" about him. And the consequences, Lewis overflowing his anger, and sadness in bad way that it make people assuming Lewis is a "d", trashguy, headstone and should never around them.

I never recommend anyone who is in broken watch this. You deserved to be loved, and treated well so you can accept the past and build better future. I wanna give ten, but the story is still short.

As others have said the photography and other production valued are excellent, but the actual script didn't do it for me. What is up with the current dislike of dialogue. People say the acting was great. I can't really fault it, but it's not really that hard to stare at a camera and look sad, and mumble a little. There was an awful lot of that. And most of the supporting characters were just tropes.

Most of the film is unremittingly tragic, violent, and depressing. Long stretches of the protagonist's life are skipped over in a way that leaves enormous holes in his story. (Sorry, trying to avoid spoilers.)

There are a couple of nice scenes where the characters manage a three minute conversation, and one very positive "shock" moment. But that, plus a pretty girl and a bit of hope isn't enough to make it worth the interminable hell of the first 3/4 of the series.