Best Interests (2023) User Reviews

A terrific, powerful drama.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 7 August 2023]

Parents Nicci and Andrew face a huge decision, when Doctors suggest removing treatment from their seriously ill daughter, claiming that she's suffering as a result of being kept alive.

I'll start by saying this is a very tough watch, if you or a loved one is in a similar position to anyone here, this may prove to be an uncomfortable watch, as it does deal with an incredibly sad and sensitive issue.

This is The BBC at its best, this is an outstanding drama, I've said many times that drama works when it makes you think, question and feel, this show prompted several passionate discussions at work, all of us had different opinions.

It's evenly paced, sincere and perfectly believable, a scenario I'm sure a number of families have found themselves in. This takes on a real journey, you see the family experience from start to finish. All sorts of moral questions are raised.

The acting is off the scale, Sharon Horgan, I'm so used to seeing her in comedy, but wow she showa just how good she is. Alison and Noma Dumezweni are both first rate too.

Michael Sheen, I am certain he will pick up an award for this, it's hard not to watch and know that he's adding a touch of greatness, I have no doubt at all that one day he will be regarded as one of the best actors on the planet, it's a captivating performance as Andrew.

Brilliant drama.

9/10.

Aligning one's ethical compass

[matthewconnell-60609 · 8/10 · 21 June 2023]

I'm a single guy with no kids so there's no way I could ever truly empathise with these parents.

What I can comment on though is how incredibly well the core characters have been crafted, warts and all. I found myself swinging from loathing Sharon Horgan's character to rooting for her and her unrelenting quest. She is not a martyr though. She is flawed - like all of us - and her character can be so polarising at times. However, at the core is a truly brilliant performance. Michael Sheen is great as always and T'nia Miller (uncredited???) continues to show her brilliant acting chops. I'm obsessed with her charismatic performances.

What I loved most about this limited series is the fact that sometimes we, as the audience, are not meant to view in black and white but instead feel squeamish, sympathise,, hurt deep in the gut, be angered and unsettled, take sides, lose faith in those sides, reposition our own compass and, at the end, leave with soulful wonderings after the credits roll. This is what top class storytelling is all about.

It's not a 10 for me but damn, this is fine viewing.

Moving drama about a heart-rending dilemma

[JRB-NorthernSoul · 8/10 · 12 June 2023]

Starring two great actors Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen and written by one of our best British TV writers Jack Thorne my expectations were high and I wasn't disappointed.

Its impossible to watch this story and not be deeply moved as it examines one of those dilemmas every parent prays they'll never face. It's emotional and raw and entirely convincing, not the easiest watch but an essential one not to be overlooked.

Tragic events all too often split families apart for the wrong reasons and 'Best Interests' explores that territory dramatically and sucessfully, you will be in tears.

Cast were great and production values were good all round. Recommended, watch it.

Brilliant and relevant drama

[tommoriarty-41758 · 10/10 · 13 June 2023]

A great but sad story brilliantly written and executed. Excellent performances from Sheen and Horgan as would be expected but surprisingly surpassed by the two more junior starlets, Alison Oliver and Niamh Moriarty. Looking forward to the concluding episodes, it has me hooked from the start and is highly recommended.

The story and characters jump off the screen at you from the first scene with the parents on a short respite break which shows their humanity and close relationship but we are quickly dragged into a world where the couples relationship will be tested to the full. Katie, played excellently by Alison Oliver, is the older sister of Marnie, played superbly by Niamh Moriarty, and her own life struggling with teenage years and the lack of attention and normality from her parents who have to spend so much time on the medical needs of critically ill Marnie is an absorbing subplot.

The drama shines a bright light on the real life struggles of a family, a medical team and their contacts struggling with an impossibly difficult question to which there is no right answer. Excellent writing, directing and editing shine through, highly recommended.

Acting is awesome from all involved! A very touchy subject and handled well but one thing really annoyed me x

[threecs-11089 · 8/10 · 19 June 2023]

I have always been a Michael Sheen fan and so when I saw he was in something new I was intrigued. The acting from everyone is completely on point! Whe I was 4 we moved in with my gran and my uncle and he had muscular dystrophy but he was lucky...if you can say that about this disease...he didn't show symptoms until he was forty where as this disease does usually start much younger. As soon as the Dr on the show mentioned the symptoms I said outloud not muscular dystrophy please and it was and I wept. The only complaint I have is I'm on episode 2 and 34 mins in and it's just repeats of episode one....do they think viewers are so stupid we can't remember what happened in episode one?! Like I say the acting is amazing and the emotion they show.ive seen my family go through that in a different way so no moaning at all of that but please editors give your viewers some respect and actually give new content not just rehash the last episode x.

Moving but very BBC

[juliemorrissmith · 6/10 · 23 June 2023]

I enjoyed Best Interests, similar in storyline to The Children Act. Thought provoking, emotional, hard to watch at times, but being the BBC, it has to include every minority in a small community which makes it a bit ridiculous. The father is realistic, and likeable but the mother is the irrational and blind sided parent who is convinced everyone is out to kill her daughter, not considering her "best interests".

It really opens your eyes to the challenges faced by families with a terminally ill child. There really is never any break or respite and puts massive strain on all the family relationships.

Michael Sheen is TREMENDOUS.

powerful and heartbreaking

[damianos86 · 9/10 · 11 April 2024]

A powerful and heartbreaking drama, the only reason I could advise against seeing it is that it might break your heart. Sharon Horgan is excellent and Alison Oliver and Niamh Moriarty are no less. Michael Sheen is simply superlative, his performance is devastating, he managed to make me cry with disarming ease. Honestly, considering they've never nominated a national treasure like David Tennant until this year's very ill-conceived nomination, I already knew that the Bafta is to cinema what McDonald's is to fine dining, but not nominating Sheen while nominating the series and Horgan for this role, it's truly a public statement of utter obtuseness.

Melodramatic, Forced and Lacking Chemistry

[iSkiDV · 5/10 · 21 June 2023]

Best Interests is supposed to be 'moving' and 'tug at heartstrings' but by the midst of episode 3, it's hard to really root for any of the characters.

The good is that a major aspect feels authentic, and that is the toll being a carer can take on virtually everything in your life - no matter how much you don't want that to happen. That part is genuine and feeling the inability to talk to to anyone about how difficult it is for those in the midst of it & how difficult it is for those around them to respond or know how to help, what to say, etc.

The bad is that they've tried to pack too much in to a show that doesn't feel conducive to it in an organic way. The writers have a hollow gay sister, an uncle with Asperger's, multiple disabled, but save for a little boy, it feel like they're intentionally type casting disabled actors to tick boxes. The gay sister's friend or love interest (or whatever she's supposed to be) is just as unlikeable in this as she is in Conversations With Friends, and just as hollow.

Best Interests seems to be yet another in an unending line of shows from what appear to be Gen Z or (barely) millennial writers who feel the need to pay lip service to diversity and hating everything about every generation other than their own. In areas where one hopes for dialogue that's genuinely meaningful, someone has to go off on a tangent.

To be perfectly blunt, it's not often I find myself looking at the time left before an episode is over, but I've done it with each episode in the series thus far. You know they want you to empathise and in a weirdly detached sort of way, you empathise with the younger, hospitalised sister for multiple reasons while watching the other characters fall apart and not really feeling much of anything for them. You should, but they're so tedious, intellectually you can empathise in terms of it happening you, yet not in a way that makes you genuinely care about them. That's not exactly a mark of brilliant television or acting.

Best Interests feels drawn out, at times disjointed and a project that could have had a bigger impact had there been stronger execution and better casting. Aside from the little girl who plays Marnie & the lad who plays George, there simply isn't chemistry between the actors that makes you believe these characters are real people or a real family. Individually, most of the actors are perfectly fine and it isn't that they're terrible - they simply lack chemistry.

I was watching because I was bored, but I think I'm going back to re-runs of other shows. There are worse things to watch, but there is also plenty that's better.