Jodie Whittaker is far too good for this contrived Aussie thriller
Sadly it's so lacklustre that Whittaker might wish that she'd opted to eat kangaroo genitalia on I'm a Celebrity with Ant and Dec instead. Since hanging up her sonic screwdriver, Whittaker has spread her wings in eclectic roles. She played an imprisoned single mother in gut-punch BBC drama Time and was the standout star of Netflix's factual drama Toxic Town. Here she loses her native Yorkshire tones to adopt an Australian accent. I'm no expert in Antipodean linguistics, but she does a decent job.
Set on the stunning New South Wales coast, One Night follows three women – Tess (Whittaker), Simone (Nicole da Silva) and Hat (Yael Stone) – who remain haunted by a harrowing event during their teens. Twenty years later, Simone writes a thinly disguised novel about that fateful night. It reopens wounds in cathartic ways.
There's the germ of an interesting drama here about trauma and truth, justice and healing. But whenever it looks about to emerge, it gets bogged down in repetitive flashbacks or clichéd contrivances. Supporting characters are uniformly ghastly – either leering small-town gangsters, spoilt kids or self-serving adults. Worst of all, there's a fatal flaw at the heart of the story. Simone stole Tess's tragedy for her own gain, yet we're supposed to sympathise as she makes her friend's pain all about her.
Stretched out over six episodes, One Night moves with all the urgency of an asthmatic koala. With its ocean views and high-flying female friends, it's a try-hard Sydney spin on Big Little Lies. Whittaker is rawly convincing as a sexual assault victim whose repressed memories come bubbling to the surface. Tess is a mass of body issues: bulimic, covered in tattoos, prone to pulling her hair out. There's a wordless scene in the finale where Whittaker acts her socks off with facial expressions alone. It's just a shame the script isn't in the same league as her performance.
One Night is available now on ITVX and begins on ITV1 on Saturday 16 August at 9.30pm
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