This anthology of female-led dramas, written and directed by Dominic Savage, has been an admirable commission. It has served as a reminder of the bold, imaginative programming that made Channel 4\u2019s reputation and which has sometimes been lacking of late, especially in the drama department.<\/p>\n
Following a gut-punch performance from Suranne Jones<\/a> (I Am Victoria<\/a>) and an underpowered one from Letitia Wright (I Am Danielle<\/a>), this third and final playlet was propelled by the Oscar-nominated talents of Manville. She played\u00a0Maria<\/span>, a woman seriously wobbled by turning 60.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As the action slowly unfurled across her birthday weekend, the mercurial\u00a0Maria<\/span>\u00a0realised her life wasn\u2019t what she wanted. She was feigning happiness in her 31-year marriage to uptight husband John (Michael Gould) and aching for adventure. They\u2019d settled down young, had a family and made a home, but\u00a0Maria<\/span>\u00a0was increasingly preoccupied by what she might have missed out on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n First her work colleagues surprised her with a birthday cake, much to\u00a0Maria<\/span>\u2019s embarrassment. After an unmistakable frisson of flirtation with younger boss Anthony (Gershwyn Eustache Jnr), she went home and tried to seduce John in the kitchen. More concerned with the spaghetti bubbling on the hob, he was irritated by her spontaneity (\u201cNot now,\u00a0Maria<\/span>!\u201d) and rejected her, leading to bitter recriminations.<\/p> During a celebratory lunch with their adult children the following day, tension between the couple cranked up to excruciating levels.\u00a0Maria<\/span>\u00a0was dismissive of such birthday trimmings as cake, candles and singing, further hinting at her triggered feelings about ageing. Simmering resentment soon bubbled to the surface.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The snarky pair sniped with asides like \u201cHere we go again\u201d and \u201cNot this same old story\u201d, demonstrating they\u2019d been here many times before. They wheedled away at one another\u2019s weak spots with the sadistic skill of long-suffering spouses. It led to a deeply awkward meal where somebody exclaiming \u201cLovely hummus!\u201d came as blessed relief.<\/p>\n It became clear that\u00a0Maria<\/span>\u00a0resembled their free-spirited daughter Alice (Ellie James), who was about to go travelling in Canada, while John was more like son Andrew (Ziggy Heath), who was sensibly saving for a deposit on a flat.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s such a lot I haven\u2019t done,\u201d\u00a0Maria<\/span>\u00a0sobbed on Alice\u2019s shoulder. \u201cI don\u2019t feel remotely old. I feel fit, alive and so full of potential. My life\u2019s not over. I won\u2019t let it be. Because I\u2019ve got a lot to give.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yet she struggled to articulate these thoughts to the prickly, pass-agg John. He got defensive. She felt unheard. Once the children left,\u00a0Maria<\/span>\u00a0gulped down white wine, picked another blazing row and stormed out to clear her head.<\/p>\n She soon returned home, glammed up and hurried out. We next saw her at Anthony\u2019s \u201cbachelor pad\u201d, where their crackling office flirtation inevitably tipped over into passionate sex. The years and worries seemed to just fall off\u00a0Maria<\/span>. Somewhat unconventional post-coital pillow talk saw her quit her job. \u201cI want new\u00a0Maria<\/span>,\u201d she said, to herself as much as him. \u201cI don\u2019t want old\u00a0Maria<\/span>\u00a0anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n In a near-silent sequence, she did the walk of shame back to her own house, comforted the sobbing John, then appeared to leave him for good. The milestone birthday had pushed\u00a0Maria<\/span>\u2019s suppressed discontent into the open, at last giving her clarity. She longed to find liberation and happiness again. And with his bafflement at his wife\u2019s restlessness, her fresh chapter wasn\u2019t going to be with risk-averse John.<\/p>\n In the absence of any inner monologue or grand speeches, Manville\u2019s impeccable performance and Savage\u2019s lighting did much of the dramatic heavy lifting. Close-ups on Manville\u2019s face showed her inner turmoil. She gazed pensively at the sunset, symbolising her sense of time slipping by. In her car,\u00a0Maria<\/span>\u00a0gave a small smile as she emerged from a gloomy tunnel into dazzling sunshine.<\/p>\n As an alumnus of eight Mike Leigh films, Manville is skilled at I Am\u2019s process of semi-improvised collaboration. Naturalistic dialogue felt so authentic that the viewer often felt like they were intruding on private moments. That breathy sex scene might have been surprisingly sensual but the raw marital strife was even more visceral.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Samantha Morton was BAFTA-nominated for I Am Kirsty in 2019\u2019s debut run. Both Lesley Manville and Suranne Jones might find themselves on the awards radar this time around. This was a perceptive, empathetic look at ageing, marriage and midlife self-discovery. It posed thought-provoking questions, rather than offer easy answers. And in Manville, it had a star in her creative prime.<\/p>\n I Am\u2026 is available to watch now on All 4. Visit our Drama<\/a> hub for more news and features, or find something to watch tonight with our TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The mighty Manville shines as a woman at a crossroads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":3337,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/i-am-maria-review-lesley-manville-shines-in-channel-4s-thought-provoking-drama-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/i-am-maria-review-lesley-manville-shines-in-channel-4s-thought-provoking-drama-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/i-am-maria-review-lesley-manville-shines-in-channel-4s-thought-provoking-drama-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/i-am-maria-review-lesley-manville-shines-in-channel-4s-thought-provoking-drama-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/i-am-maria-review-lesley-manville-shines-in-channel-4s-thought-provoking-drama-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/i-am-maria-review-lesley-manville-shines-in-channel-4s-thought-provoking-drama-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/i-am-maria-review-lesley-manville-shines-in-channel-4s-thought-provoking-drama-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The mighty Manville shines as a woman at a crossroads.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/3336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""I\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/I-Am-Maria-19-ca66c26.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"I\\"")
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