Ranking Every HBO Miniseries From Worst To Best
3. I May Destroy You
While she writes with a very specific voice, Michaela Cole might be one of the most universally exciting talents around today. Her BBC/HBO series I May Destroy You was released in the midst of the pandemic; this had everyone watching at once, and a more important show we haven’t seen in a while.
Cole stars as Arabella, a social media star now working on her second book. On a night out her drink is spiked; she wakes up the next day with a fuzzy memory of a rape and nothing else to go on. It’s a heavy beginning and the show deals head on with matters of consent and assault. It never does so in a trifling matter, but that’s not to say the show is wholesale a difficult watch.
Indeed it tackles a great many topics, from the modern (performative social consciousness, dating apps) as well as the timeless (the search for love, friendship, career anxiety). Cole is a captivating presence in the lead, ably supported by Weruche Opia and Paapa Essiedu as her best friends.
The show can be hilarious as well as heartbreaking, occasionally downright difficult to watch. It tackles one of the most difficult subjects imaginable and tells a vital story.