Ranking Every HBO Miniseries From Worst To Best
33. I Know This Much Is True
There’s a case to be made that great art doesn’t necessarily have to be enjoyable, and sometimes there’s beauty in bleakness. I Know This Much Is True, though, is so unrelentingly grim that it’s hard to fully recommend, other than for the quality of Mark Ruffalo’s dual performance.
The Avengers star plays two brothers, Thomas and Dominick Birdsey. The former suffers from paranoid schizophrenia; the latter attempts to protect him as best he can as Thomas’ condition leads him down a dark path.
Evidently it’s not going to be a barrel of laughs with a premise like that, but the series sometimes seems to compound sheer misery with drama. It’s not supposed to be enjoyable when Thomas’ delusions lead him to self harm, or when we get a glimpse of the inadequacy of his care; but I Know This Much Is True has little else to offer other than a grim pile on.
Ruffalo is excellent, as is the supporting cast including the great Melissa Leo, and it’s nothing if not moving, but unrelentingly miserable to the point of exploitation.