The Stolen Girl

I thought Denise Gough was brilliant. Coming straight off the bat from ‘Andor’ Season 2 my expectations were very high and she met them all. She played her character perfectly, walking the line of dramatic vs realistic very well. The heartache and despair when she realised what had happened was felt through the screen. She really is an exceptional actor, and by far the best part of this show. Holliday Grainger was also superb and did well in her role. As the show goes on, more and more secrets/plot twists are revealed, and I thought her performance was very consistent while having a lot of layers to it. She doesn’t give too much away at the beginning, but progressively gets more and more unhinged as the show goes on, which she achieved to great effect. The plot twists, and red herrings, were all paced smartly throughout the story as well as the episodes ending on sufficient cliff hangers to keep the pace quick and interesting. The 5 episode length was the perfect structure for this show. Often times shows can either overstay their welcome or rush out stories and leave them underdeveloped. So I’m pleased to report this show strikes the right balance. My main criticism for The Stolen Girl is the absurd plot. You definitely have to suspend your belief to enjoy the show - for some that won’t be a problem. For me personally, I have a bit leeway for situations like this, but The Stolen Girl definitely pushed and exceeded those boundaries. No one with a shred of common sense would leave their child with someone they didn’t know. And on top of that, you then wouldn’t allow her to stay the night after little persuasion. The show even introduces this criticism, surely knowing the audience would point out this flaw, but never end up actually answering it or giving a credible reason as to why it happens. This isn’t even an isolated event, throughout the entire show, questionable as well as downright stupid decisions are made by characters that just wouldn’t happen in real life. I think this was The Stolen Girl’s biggest downfall. The Stolen Girl offers so many dangling threads that it doesn’t quite know what to do with them all, leading some to be forgotten entirely and others that feel at odds with the wider story being told. The plot is also very formulaic - this isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker, but most of the big moments were obvious from a mile away. All in all, while The Stolen Girl didn’t entirely live up to my expectations, it was still an entertaining and, at times, suspenseful watch. The cast are the main attraction here, though if you enjoy thrillers this will be a nice watch regardless.

A little slow and not really excited .............................................