Story 4/5
Characters 5/5
Depth 5/5
Cast 5/5
Artistry 4/5

A very slow moving series but so very well played by all. Even the children presented as real. A very intriguing plot with some very good lessons to be learned.

Shane Meadows is to me slowly becoming a director/writer to keep an eye out for. Sublimely acted, beautifully crafted and harrowingly dark, this is Shane's best since the This Is England movie.

Really enjoyed this show, great acting and very realistic, maybe too much of a slow burner for some.

Terribly tedious and depressing. Couldn't take it after 31 minutes and shut it off. 0/10

The show is sublime and Stephen Graham's acting from another world.

Starts slow, but really picks up, with the last 20 minutes a masterclass in how to build tension with simple parallel editing; be warned though, it's not pleasant viewing

The Virtues is an exceptional piece of work by an exceptional filmmaker. Undeniably bleak, it will undoubtedly be too much for some. However, this is not misery porn, not even close. In Meadows, misery is never gratuitous, because he never loses sight of a sense of catharsis, which is so vital for work of this nature. It starts exceptionally slowly, with little plot in either of the first two episodes, but the astonishing central performances carry it, and it reaches a crescendo of unprecedented power in its final episode. Disturbing, harrowing, bleak, but extremely impressive.

For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/KHwp3