By Mr. Will Wong
Based on true events, Hulu Series THE GIRL FROM PLAINVILLE dramatizes the events leading to Michelle Carter’s conviction for involuntary manslaughter of boyfriend Conrad Roy. The Screenplay by Liz Hannah and Patrick Macmanus is inspired by the Esquire article of the same name by Jesse Barron. The then-18-year-old had been struggling with his mental health and commit suicide in 2014 after it was learned that Carter had encouraged him to do so.
In the lead role is the talented Elle Fanning as Carter and the eight-episode Series introduces us to her reacting to news of Roy‘s (Colton Ryan) death. She overreacts, as if to mask her guilt, and is eager to make it known that she is grieving whether it be to her own parents, or Roy‘s mother Lynn (Chloë Sevigny), whom had never met nor heard of Carter through her son. The two maintained a relationship via their phones, only having met in-person a few times. We get a glimpse of Roy, who is seeking professional help and move our way backwards as we understand Carter and Roy‘s connection and how it leads to ill-fated consequences.
Over-compensating and hyper-concerned about her perception, Fanning taps into Carter‘s desire for sympathy and need for others to know how much she loved Roy. One chilling scene in the first episode has her reciting verbatim a scene from “Glee” where Lea Michele‘s Rachel is paying tribute to Finn (Cory Monteith), deeply-haunting. The Series sets this all up perfectly for us to want to unravel the-troubling relationship between Carter and Roy and its consequences. In addition to some fine work from Fanning, Sevigny also disappears completely into Roy’s mother as she navigates her grief and her life intersecting with the young woman responsible for her son’s death.
The Series will be available in Canada on W Network and also STACKTV on Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 9 PM ET/PT. It screens at SXSW ’22 as follows:
Mar 12, 202212:00pm—12:48pm
Mar 13, 9:00am CDT – Mar 15, 9:00am CDT 9:00am—9:48am
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