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Marcella (2016)

2016 · Crime,Drama,Mystery · crime-procedural, crime-psychological-profiler, contemporary-realistic

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Marcella is a dark British crime drama built almost entirely around Anna Friel's performance as a psychologically fragile detective whose dissociative identity disorder blurs the line between investigator and suspect. Seasons 1 and 2 are tightly plotted procedurals with a compelling hook and strong atmospheric tension; season 3 shifts to a murkier, more stylised register set in Northern Ireland that divided audiences. The show appeals to fans of character-driven UK crime drama who tolerate loose ends and unreliable narrators in exchange for a strong central performance. Its tone is consistently bleak, its plotting sometimes deliberately withholding, and its emotional core rests on a woman barely holding herself together while trying to solve crimes.

From the reviewers

Anna Friel is terrific as Marcella in this tv series which began in 2016. And what a concept. She plays a police detective with DID (dissociative identity disorder) whose personal life is somewhat of a mess
The biggest problem is the show's failure to resolve a lot of the subplots. I kept asking a friend who'd seen it what happened with so and so, and all I got was "keep watching." Well, I kept watching and guess what - I still don't know what happened with so and so
Too many beards, too many redheads, too many blondes - I was confused in the way people have been when I'm watching a soap opera
I think it was the combination of the protagonist's manic and depressive personality, along with all the hideous things that were happening, along with the created ambiance of darkness, rain, grim isolated settings, along with a group of characters, each of whom was more treacherous than the next, along with the music
The main character, Marcella, is really so unlikable, but I found her fascinating, too. I thought Anna Friel played the role exceptionally. The irony of her little pixie-face paired with who she is and what she does is delicious.

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