Critic Reviews

A wonderfully nuanced story that's both extremely funny and tragically sad, but never leans too hard in either direction to get a reaction. It just exists and, after six episodes, it ends — and when it does you get the full appreciation of how exceptional it is. ... Back to Life is a real, unexpected gem of a series and one of the better surprises of 2019.

Haggard’s performance (she’s also a co-writer) is a marvel, whether she’s exuding vulnerability or dishing the sass. Used and abused but never quite de-fused, she propels Back to Life to the top tier of this season’s newcomers, with ample help from a crackerjack ensemble.

Nobody does anything stupid, extreme, inconsistent or out of character. The beauty of the script and the performances – which build relationships so delicately and naturally, which modulate so deftly in and out of grief and laughter, and which turn ordinary moments into hilarity and heartbreak without you noticing how they got you there – will take your breath away.

Bouncing unpredictably between somber dejection and daffy dark humor, Back to Life shouldn't work at all. Yet it does, wonderfully.

Series two improves on series one in every way. Put the two together and you have an instant, 12-episode classic.

The show has lost none of its delicacy or nuance, nor have its makers disturbed its heart and soul – in fact, they have only added to it. All this, and extra Janice too. Quality pum-pum all round.

Back to Life is a quiet and emotionally genuine series that hinges on the fantastic interactions among its characters. ... Beautifully directed by Christopher Sweeney and sonically augmented with a thoughtful, soulful score from Solomon Grey, there’s a melancholy to the late fall days when the story takes place, alongside an embedded nostalgia for a time when all of us were younger and seemingly carefree, before things got complicated and life-changing decisions were made.

Everything here is heightened for comedy, and yet it feels real enough to the spirit of small-town life and the awkward encounters and indignities faced, as well as the tiny, beautiful moments snatched in between.

Haggard finds much to embrace and a great way of making you think of all people.

“Back to Life” is exactly the kind of little gem — so wisely and commandingly written, so effectively acted, so well-paced — that could easily get lost among the glitzier stuff. That would be a shame.