Fifteen-Love

The show has found an intelligent way to straddle the line between nuanced sensitivity and juicy drama, all set against a gorgeous backdrop. It’s smart, endlessly watchable and the kind of series that would likely find a larger audience were it available on a more popular streamer.

As a gripping thriller, this drama ticks all the boxes – there’s mystery, there’s lies, there’s a really hateful villain (Turner is surprisingly brilliant at playing an evil narcissist). But where Fifteen-Love really exceeds is in its dissection of how a complaint of sexual assault is really handled by those who were supposed to protect the woman at the centre.

Overall it is an effective study of how deeply truth can be obscured by unpalatable parts of it, by deliberate and unconscious subterfuge, by ambition, deflection, denial, our willingness to believe only good things of likable people and only bad of the dislikable.

Over its six episodes, “Fifteen-Love” loses steam, especially when it kicks into thriller mode toward the end. More characters does not always mean more story, and the show is most interesting when it is narrowly focused, probing the dynamic between Justine and Glenn. .... Even as the plot sags, the specifics still land.

While the series may want to illustrate this elite sport, its #MeToo moments and its treatment of young women, Fifteen-Love feels rushed when it comes to all of those things. .... While it has its faults, Fifteen-Love is an undeniably strong drama that will pull you in for each episode.

Fifteen-Love could have been a hard-hitting study of why elite sports so often breed predators. Instead, its over-stylised and lacking depth, the main characters bent into dramatic delivery that fails to convince.