HIM (2016) - Review

Starring: Fionn Whitehead, James Murray, Katherine Kelly & Simona Brown

Written By: Paula Milne

Directed By: Andy De Emmony

Certificate: 15

 

Being a teenager or a young adult is a very difficult time. I may be biased in writing this, given that at the time of writing, I'm in my late teens, but just look at just what is expected of young people today. Countless exams, made even worse by the amount of constant changes being made to them by the government, having to make the troublesome transition from childhood to adulthood, increasing social pressures, and all while having to plan the rest of their future while trying to face these problems in the present. All the while, there's the stereotype that people at this age have no respect or don't care about anything. While I'm not saying this stereotype isn't true for anyone, it certainly doesn't help the majority. It's a volatile time in life, and has been adapted in film and TV dozens of times; but now we have HIM, a three-part mini-series about a young man with an extraordinary power...

 

The series follows a seventeen year-old boy, known only as HIM. Ever since he was a small child, HIM has developed a unique and unbelievable gift – telekinetic powers. The powers flare and have the ability to cause serious harm whenever HIM gets particularly angry or upset. Having to balance his life between a divorced mum and dad, and falling into a forbidden romance with his future step-sister, Faith, his powers often spike, and are getting stronger and stronger...

 

HIM had a lot working in its favour, and though exploring the troubles of young adults through different mediums of film and television may not be entirely original, it is the first time we've really seen it in a prime-time UK drama. The fantastic premise of HIM had the potential to be such a wonderful extended metaphor for how alone a lot of people feel, and how difficult they can find it to open up to others. However, previous attempts at exploring the lives of young adults have succeeded largely thanks to engaging characters and smart scripts, and though it has potential, this is something that the series severely lacks.

 

In all three episodes, the series suffers from very poor pacing, as well as constantly clunky dialogue. With the exception of the cliff-hangers to Episodes 1 and 2, absolutely nothing memorable happens, and every time it looks like something's going to happen, nothing does happen! Admittedly, the two cliff-hangers are impressive and suitably dramatic, particularly the first one which was a jaw-dropping moment and credit has to go to the production team for being able to flood an entire bedroom. But even then, the cliff-hangers don't provide any kind of pay-off. For example, at the end of Episode 1, as HIM nearly destroys an entire house, the narrator tells us that “He'd tasted his power now, and he wanted more of it.”. No he doesn't! Nothing over the next two episodes even hints that HIM wants more of his power, in fact it's the opposite – he doesn't want it! Even the characters' dialogue doesn't fare any better. There's a moment in the first episode where Edward literally tells HIM: “If your life were a cake, only one slice got changed and I'm through apologising for that.”. Who the hell talks like that? That isn't anything you'll hear in a family conversation.

 

But sometimes an engaging lead character can help to soothe awkward and unrealistic dialogue, but HIM is again lacking in this department. To give you an idea of just how one-dimensional HIM is, he's not even given a proper name and it isn't until we're twenty minutes into the first episode that he even says anything. Honestly, he comes across as one of the most stereotypical seventeen year-olds ever seen on screen … and that's something I really didn't want to be writing. You could make a ticklist of teenage stereotypes here – Hoodies, check! Headphones, check! Sullen silences, check! Smoking, check! When I first learned that our main character was going to be called HIM, I originally assumed that it would be done to show just how overlooked and misunderstood he was. It instead feels more like it was done because the writer just didn't know what to do with the character they'd created. HIM is just one-note and brooding, with zero personality.

 

The majority of the supporting characters are just as one-note and unlikeable. It's not just HIM that suffers from any kind of development, as the rest of his family are just as bad. Edward is one of the most forgettable father characters seen on TV in a while, Victor just comes across as spiteful and HIM's step-mother Beth feels snobby and annoying. The only supporting character that feels well-developed and likeable is HIM's mother, Hannah. You get the sense that Hannah is the only one who genuinely cares about her son, and Katherine Kelly gives another of many great performances. That's the thing about HIM, while the characters and writing are terribly realized, the premise and actors' performances have great potential. You've got a solid cast here with names like Katherine Kelly and James Murray, and even new actors like Fionn Whitehead show promise, but it all gets wasted. But going back to the supporting characters, I was genuinely asking myself what had caused HIM's parents, Edward and Hannah, to get divorced in the first place. Neither one of them seems to share a particularly good relationship with their new partners, and the two seem more comfortable and at ease when in each other's company, so why are they so happy to be split up?

 

In later episodes, there's yet another aspect to the series that just doesn't ring true, and that's the romance between HIM and his step-sister Faith. While I see what the writer was trying to do with this relationship, it never comes across as believable. I can imagine that both Fionn Whitehead and Simona Brown could have probably pulled off a convincing romantic relationship, but once again their flat and underdeveloped characters entirely hold them back. It leaves the forbidden romance feeling awkward and artificial, and not in the intended way, and I just can't see what would cause these two characters to fall for each other.

 

Have you noticed yet that I haven't really talked about HIM's telekinetic abilities? Well, that's mostly because the series doesn't put them to significant use. Every so often it feels like HIM is about to use his telekinetic powers to do something that will finally get the pacing moving, such as causing harm or disruption to someone else … and then doesn't. This might create some sense of tension, but it doesn't do anything for keeping the viewer engaged. This lack of attention to HIM's telekinetic powers is a serious problem, as the series ends up wasting the main thing that sets it apart from other television dramas. It becomes even more baffling as the series goes on, especially by the final episode. (Spoiler Warning!) By the final episode, both a physicist and a Professor of Physic Research are aware of HIM's powers, yet still that does nothing to advance the plot. Even when one threatens the other not to go to the press, I simply don't believe that this is the kind of thing that could be kept quiet, or at least not have HIM's parents involved.

 

This leads perfectly on to … the thoroughly soul-crushingly disappointing ending. (Spoiler Warning!) Now while I have seen a mixed reaction towards HIM, most viewer reactions to the ending tended to be positive … but I don't get how this ending can be viewed in such a good light. The series comes to a close with HIM deciding to leave home, after he decides that its better for everybody, and he leaves instructions with Faith about what to do once he's gone. About a year later, Faith encounters HIM again, in another town and that he has become part of a magic show. First things first, I have nothing against a happy and bittersweet ending, and I'd instead welcome that, as happy endings seem to be becoming increasingly rare in a lot of dramas. But this ending just doesn't work at all. It renders the series pointless – the conflict between HIM and the rest of his family doesn't get solved and he never patches things up with his parents … he just gives up and never has to face any consequences for some of the things he's done with his powers. It also means none of the characters have changed either – they're all still one-note and uninvolving and have learnt nothing from the things HIM has had to endure. Also, if your seventeen year-old son suddenly disappeared and left home one day, would you just accept that? I certainly don't know many good parents that would do that. To top it all, HIM ends up performing magic tricks for small audiences every evening? What was the point of all this?

 

Overall, I can't call HIM anything other than a thudding disappointment. I really wanted to like this series, as it was perhaps one of the most different dramas ITV have produced for a fair amount of time, and would make a change from the high number of crime dramas currently on TV. However, the end result was one of the most uninvolving watches possible, which has nothing to say about the lives of young adults, despite its absolutely fantastic premise. There was great potential here, but it was sadly wasted.

 

 

HIM



4/10