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Unbelievable (Netflix)

59 replies

FatherFintanFay · 13/09/2019 18:44

Anyone watching this? I'm just onto the second episode but it's hard going, really upsetting. I can see exactly on what grounds the victim is going to be disbelieved - not injured enough, not upset enough, inconsistencies between the many times she was made to retell what happened. I think it's going to be a difficult watch, even though it's well made and acted.

OP posts:
30to50FeralHogs · 23/09/2019 01:06

Made me super twitchy about checking all my doors before bed though Sad

Fragglerock75 · 25/09/2019 10:02

I haven't read the whole thread because I'm avoiding spoilers but watched the first 4 episodes yesterday and think that this is just an amazing series. Getting through Episode 1 was probably the most difficult watch that I've had in a long time, but somehow I felt that I owed it to the character to keep going. Amazing acting from everyone involved and I will no doubt finish the rest of the series later today.

DerbyshireOatcake · 25/09/2019 13:11

Brilliantly written and acted, thought provoking TV.

I've heard plenty of men sing its praises - Nihal Arthanayake and Scott Bryan on FiveLive were the first.

100PercentThatBitch · 25/09/2019 22:30

Just finished this. So good

A hard watch but worth it

The two detectives and their actresses were amazing, I would watch a series just about them if it wasn't a real life story

That poor poor girl, failed by so many, so often

Wallywobbles · 25/09/2019 22:56

I thought it was really excellent.

Swisskit · 27/09/2019 22:29

I didn't recognise Toni Collette. Maybe because I hadn't seen her in anything for a while but she looked so different. Brilliant at accents too.

Sparrowlegs248 · 04/10/2019 13:44

I sat down to watch the first episode this morning. I haven't got up yet. Its just shocking the contrast in the way Marie and Amber were treated.

AuntieMarys · 06/10/2019 09:20

I've never seen a series which has affected me so much. I am so angry after watching it at the way Marie was treated.
Superbly acted and well cast

DocFartin · 06/10/2019 12:31

I've not read the thread in case of spoilers - but I am loving this. Just started ep 5

Poor, poor Marie 😢

MorrisZapp · 06/10/2019 12:37

Best telly I've seen in ages. The inspirational poet it note in Merrit Wevers car was worth the price of admission alone. Superb acting throughout but I've still got the final episode to go so I'll avoid this thread in case of spoilers!

So proud of Toni Collette, feel I've grown up with her since Muriel. Love how her character is a bit of a cow but so charismatic. Merritt Wever is a tour de force. If you like her in this, don't miss Godless on Netflix. I watched it three times and love it more with each watching.

MorrisZapp · 06/10/2019 12:38

Post it note. Doh.

AuntieMarys · 06/10/2019 12:42

This is well worth reading

Unbelievable (Netflix)
JuneFromBethesda · 16/10/2019 00:03

Extraordinary TV. My mother persuaded me to watch it, I found the early episodes very hard to watch as well but I’m so glad I stuck with it. Amazing acting and so satisfying to have a serious drama in which the men are the secondary characters.

The bit that will really stay with me is the scene where Toni Collette’s character says ‘what if men were being raped as often as women? Where is the outrage?’ It made me think - how is it that we just accept these crimes happen? That it’s part of being a woman that you know to be careful and to be fearful. It shouldn’t be this way.

JuneFromBethesda · 17/10/2019 20:16

Thank you for that link @AuntieMarys. I didn’t realise the TV programme was so closely aligned to what actually happened. It’s a remarkable story.

FredaFrogspawn · 20/10/2019 21:32

What a beautifully written drama. And so well acted. I loved the sparseness, the lack of schmaltz, the terse dialogue and the focus of the events. I was so glad to have watched it to the end - having almost given up after the harrowing first episode.

Marie was such a well- drawn character. I also loved the relationship between the two detectives - how different they were, but how they both responded to the crimes with such a similar drive, which they recognised in each other.

The court when the witnesses spoke was heartbreaking. The ending was perfect .

MrsTumbletap · 20/10/2019 21:38

Watched it all with DH we both thought it was really good.

Love the female police officers, and the older one lettering her have 'her arrest' at the end.

FredaFrogspawn · 20/10/2019 21:42

It was a good moment, I agree. And the apology was too.

Ozgirl75 · 21/10/2019 03:54

It’s worth sticking with it, it is hard to watch but it gets “better” when we switch to the female police. Such good acting, and the last episode is just wonderful.

Ozgirl75 · 21/10/2019 03:58

SPOILER

I also thought the police officer who had disbelieved her in the beginning, when he found out she was telling the truth and what he had done (or failed to do) was extremely well acted - not overdone. I would like to know what became of him and whether this profoundly affected him.

Also loved the slightly smarmy lawyer at the end “we want to make them MORE sorry” with a little smile, or words to that effect.

FredaFrogspawn · 21/10/2019 07:16

That was a good line!

itsgettingweird · 21/10/2019 07:18

I've seen it all. I think it was a very honest account of how different people are treated in cases dependent on who they are and also who is investigating.

Very moving scenes in the final episode.

IWorkAtTheCheescakeFactory · 17/11/2019 12:42

I binged this last night.

Fucking fantastic show. Really hard watch but very very good. It was so accurate in so many ways. The way you could see the two female detectives just understood men’s behaviour in a way the Male detectives didn’t. Without it even having to be said. It was as plain on the noses on their faces to the women but the Male detectives didn’t even see a nose because it had never affected them.

One slight issue I had was that Marie underwent a thorough medical examination that absolutely will have confirmed she had at least had sexual intercourse if not that it was forced. But the Male detectives didn’t acknowledge this when they were saying “there was no-one in your room was there?”. And I don’t think they were just trying to make the case go away, I think they genuinely just thought it was a messed up girl seeking attention (because they buy into all the false accusation crap) but how did they explain the medical evidence? They didn’t. It really irritated me right from the first episode and I kept expecting an explanation for why they discounted that evidence (like if they had said they never looked at the medical report because they discovered she was lying) but none appeared.

One thing it did do for me was reconfirm my position on never reporting a rape.

MashedSpud · 17/11/2019 12:48

DH and I binge watched it. It is hard to watch at times but definitely worth sticking with.

JeansNTees · 15/12/2019 00:57

Unbelievable is so good. Giving it a little bump as it deserves it. I hope that Marie has a really good life now with her kids and husband.

Oh and that awful foster mum? She still indulged in a bit of victim blaming in a podcast years later, when she knew full well that the rape had happened. "Peggy: Obviously, wish I hadn't. But on the other hand, there was all these other things, you know? I mean, the police and the way that Marie was acting. I mean, she on some level needs to take responsibility for that, too. I'm sorry, but that's true. And--

Robyn Semien: What do you mean?

Peggy: She needs to realize at some point, and I think she does now, that OK, I hate to say this. But you know, I mean OK, now this is going to sound really bad, like I'm blaming the victim. But some of the way that she was acting was part of the reason why it had the outcome that it did. And I am not the only person that didn't believe her." Podcast Anatomy of Doubt by This American Life.

BitOfFun · 15/12/2019 01:06

Yes, I heard that. Very disappointing of her, especially as she was aware of the eventual outcome. I guess there's no convincing some people.