The latest HBO miniseries, I Know This Much Is True, is a tribute to the family unit more than anything else. It is a moving reminder that when everything falls apart, your family will always be there to help you pick up the pieces and move on.
If you are stuck at home with your family this lockdown, spending way more time with the loved ones that you would have otherwise, here is a timeless tragic familial tale for you to binge on.
But beware, if tragedy is not your thing, you may not want to binge it all in one go. This Mark Ruffalo-Derek Cianfrance starrer is a real tearjerker.
What’s the story?
Based on the 1998 novel of the same name, penned by Wally Lamb is the story of two twin brothers born 6 minutes apart on the midnight of the years 1949 and 1950.
They are as different in their personalities as the years and decades they were each born in. But also, they are tied up in a seemingly unbreakable bond that comes with sharing tragic times.
Played by Mark Ruffalo of The Avengers and Spotlight fame, the twins are Dominick and Thomas Birdsey.
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They deal with the death of their mother, Dominick’s infant daughter, followed by his divorce and a scary episode of Thomas’s paranoid schizophrenia, which introduces the apathetic systems of American mental health institutions to the already miserable lives of the Birdseys.
The series is definitely not for the fainthearted, in that, it is not scary like a horror or thriller, but as a grim reminder of what tragedy looks like. If you are unwilling to come face to face with the most painful parts of your life, then this story is not for you.
Bracing to be reminded of those times, the twins face a brand new stroke of bad luck and boy, is there no shortage of those!
It is not a surprise then that many critics found the show a bit too tragic for its own good. However, even they agreed that if you could only make it till the end of it all, hope still prevails.
The official summary of the show as given by HBO spells it out as a tale of great betrayals and sacrifices.
Front and behind the camera
Headlined by Mark Ruffalo playing identical twins and receiving some rave reviews, the show is also padded with some brilliant supporting acts.
There is Dominick’s ex-wife Dessa (Kathryn Hahn), his much younger girlfriend Joy (Imogen Poots), the twins’ stepfather Ray (John Procaccino), their mother (Melissa Leo), a therapist (Archie Panjabi), and a messy translator (Juliette Lewis), introduced to translate their Italian grandfather’s (Marcello Fonte) memoir.
Cianfrance, who wrote and directed all six episodes of the series, also served as an executive producer along with Ruffalo, Lamb and others. The show also marks the TV debut of independent feature production and sales company FilmNation Entertainment).
The show is no Game of Thrones in terms of its populist charm. But it will touch many hearts, especially ones with patience.
Released during a time such as this, when leisure is more common than ever, there is a good chance of that happening. However, it could also turn out to be a downer, especially in the world of corona-robbed spirits.
Meanwhile, Cianfrance’s statement about why he does what he does is a fitting synopsis of what has been “a sad, gem of a series“
“I make films about family because family relationships are the most intimate relationships we have,” the New York-based filmmaker told Screendaily. “In a family, you see all sides of a person – the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
I Know This Much Is True airs on HBO from May 10 in the US.
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