A review of the true crime drama based on Delia Balmer's memoir. The drama explores the chilling story of Delia's relationship with John Sweeney, a man who hides a sinister truth.
Delia Balmer, living alone in London in the early 1990s, works as a nurse and finds it difficult to make friends. She has developed a hard emotional shell to protect against the disappointments of the world and the loneliness that assails her in her dingy council flat. When she meets charming, laid-back, free-spirited John Sweeney in a pub, and finds her attraction reciprocated, her grinding life appears to be taking flight.And that, of course, is where it all goes wrong.
John is not just not what he seems: as periodic cuts to a police investigation in Amsterdam make clear, he is something very, very bad indeed – and over the coming couple of years Delia is in for a growing, creeping, terrifying awareness of it.This is based on her memoir. True crime is a wildly popular genre, but a tricky one to handle in many ways. Interviews with creators of based-on-fact crime dramas will always cite the need to be sensitive and respectful of the lives involved, but the genre has a decidedly mixed record when it comes to living up to these noble intentions.This does better than most, probably in large part because Delia, although a victim of Sweeney, survived to tell her story, on which the show is based. Told from Delia’s perspective, it strives to make her as a fully realised character, rather than a prop in a killer’s tale, as many similar dramas do.On the creative side, a true crime drama must face the question of how sensational to make its portrayal – making real-life crimes thrilling and salacious can create a sickly feeling for a viewer – but this is entertainment. There’s no point making a show if you’re going to mute the events to the point of dullness. Such shows exist because we are, for better or worse, fascinated by the most horrific human behaviour, and pretending otherwise would be disingenuous.This creeps up on you with its horror
TRUE CRIME DRAMA REVIEW JOHN SWEENEY DELIA BALMER
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
From true crimes to terror: When is ‘dark tourism’ too dark?7NEWS brings you the latest local news from Australia and around the world. Stay up to date with all of the breaking sport, politics, entertainment, finance, weather and business headlines. Today's news, live updates & all the latest breaking stories from 7NEWS.
Read more »
Endeavour’s Shaun Evans a charming threat in this true-crime dramaIn Until I Kill You, Anna Maxwell Martin is utterly convincing as the woman who finds her lover hides a dark side.
Read more »
Crime scene declared in Queensland national park after grim discoveryAn investigation has been launched in a Queensland national park after suspected human bones were found on Friday morning.
Read more »
‘Gruesome discovery’: passerby finds woman’s body wrapped in plastic near Sydney airportInvestigators say woman may have been dead for weeks and body hidden in bushes was ‘in severe state of decomposition’
Read more »
Discovery of six rare Mekong giant catfish in Cambodia raises hopes for endangered speciesFind is ‘hopeful sign’ the species, one of world’s largest and rarest freshwater fish, is not at imminent risk of extinction
Read more »
Cousins on a Journey of Self-DiscoveryThis heartwarming comedy follows two cousins, David and Benji, on a journey from New York to Poland to honor their recently deceased grandmother. David, an anxious and inwardly focused individual, and Benji, his emotionally open and somewhat lost counterpart, embark on a trip that challenges their perspectives on life and family.
Read more »