The cost of childhood trauma is not just a memory that plagues the mind continuously. It is a scar that is seared into the proverbial flesh of the mind. One should have to nurture the wound, clean it and take care of it every day until either the wound heals or you move on from it. In Richard Gadd’s Half Man we see the cost of the most dangerous of these wounds, those of one’s past. Half Man follows the volatile relationship of two “brothers from another lover” over the course of their teenage and adult years, culminating in a single, seminal event.
Creator: Richard Gadd
Cast: Jamie Bell, Richard Gadd, Mitchell Robertson, Stuart Campbell
Streamer: Lionsgate Play
Half Man thrives with a power packed acting unit that does not falter for a single frame. We see the lives of “brothers” Ruben Pallister (Richard Gadd and Stuart Campbell) and Niall Kennedy (Jamie Bell and Mitchell Robertson) clash as they try to navigate the complex situations created for them and by them. While the explosiveness of Ruben surely grabs your attention, the suffering of Niall is an equal contender who stands his ground. As the younger Ruben, Campbell portrays the angst and the polarising nature of a troubled teenager with brilliance. Gadd carries that heavy past forward, showing the weight that he has to carry as Ruben, in his adult years. On the other side, Robertson carries the frailty of Niall’s teenage years, which transforms Bell into portraying Niall’s internalised homophobia which acts the surface Niall’s deeper repressed self. The supporting cast led be Neve McIntosh and Marianne McIvor, who play the mothers of Niall and Ruben, also put up strong performances
In the lives of Ruben and Niall there is no light of hope. The umbrages that brings about darkness is an unforgiving shield that prevents hope from entering. Ruben and Niall might be polarising personalities, but their present is defined by their choices, which are in turn influenced by their past. In this post-Adolescence era miniseries telling the cautionary tales of broken manhood, Half Man is the parent that yells at you so as to prevent you from venturing down that dark path again. Gadd with his layered writing, even in the smallest of dialogues, maintains the focus on the themes of homophobia, shame, and repression. The unapologetic nature of representing obsession, which was a theme in Gadd’s Baby Reindeer, in different forms moves the series from its drama genre setting to thriller-horror zones, which elevates the viewing experience.
While Half Man is a study on the lives of men who are the victims of toxic masculinity themselves, it also shows the plight of women surrounding these men. This includes Ruben and Niall’s mothers, who enter into a relationship in a highly homophobic environment, their partners over the course of their lives, who are victims of trauma which they did not experience directly. While in these scenes, the women might feel underwritten, the impact nevertheless stands. That perhaps is the main focus of Half Man, a title which is both a mirror and a reality check for those making bad choices. The series takes you through every emotion of the wounded, but satisfies you till the very end.
