I May Destroy You episodes 1 & 2 review, Culture Whisper
From the first 20 minutes of I May Destroy You, you wouldn’t necessarily guess that it's about sexual assault. Its title character, Arabella (Michaela Coel), is the author of a Twitter memoir titled Chronicles of a Fed-Up Millennial, and she’s now stuck in writer’s block. Story cards are taped to her bedroom wall, she writes in cabs and buses around London… everywhere except her empty office in Soho, where she endlessly procrastinates.
In between writing periods Arabella hangs out with mates, boozes, takes drugs and watches endless YouTube videos. She’s a sweet, fun-loving, unemployed Londoner, of a kind that’s easy to recognise and make friends with.
The first episode offers little in terms of direction: it’s sporadic and free (much like her), structured like a slice-of-city-life story. But towards the end, a harsh, violent memory flashes dizzily through Arabella's mind and the story turns into something more horrific, slicing through her sense of normality.
