Two Weeks in August

What happens when a group of reunited university pals, all battling their uniquely millennial existential crises – climate anxiety, childfree ruminations, a grim jobs market – are thrust into a post-pandemic Lord of the Flies? In Two Weeks in August, an idyllic Mediterranean holiday turns into an exploration of a friend group’s twisted psyches.

Actress Catherine Shepherd’s deliciously dark, albeit languidly paced, series opens with a foreboding The Shining-coded drive through the Greek clifftops, but instead of Overlook Hotel, Zoe (Jessica Raine), Dan (Damien Molony) and their two young children are on their way to a luxury villa to meet their friends. Throughout the first few episodes, there’s ominous signposting through Zoe’s eyes: a lone goat blocking the road, water spurting from the mouth of a gothic fountain, and scorpions.

With a less-than-likeable cast of characters, Two Weeks in August is a welcome antidote to the binary good-vs-bad depictions that have been pervasive across our screens as of late. The ensemble cast includes Nicholas Pinnock as Solomon, a jobbing actor with the slick veneer and inflated confidence of a CEO, and Antonia Thomas as his young but neglected (and, consequently, sexually frustrated) second wife, Jess. Leila Farzad plays childfree Nat, who is possessive over her gay best friend, Jacob (Hugh Skinner); he invites his Zoomer boyfriend, Will (Dylan Brady), creating intergenerational tensions.

It’s full of uncomfortable moments that build to an absurdly chaotic crescendo, with the pals exchanging polite and insipid conversation that masks a dark undercurrent. Will tries to explain his job as a “content creator” to his baffled elders; Dan trauma dumps (“I’m a mad, skint loser,” he declares); having been pushed around one too many times, Zoe recounts a terrifying Greek myth while giving icy daggers to her friends.

But the script gradually introduces more characters than it can manage. Insufferable expats Flick (Dolly Wells) and James (Tom Goodman-Hill), yet another couple the pals add to their roster, are the most glaring examples of this. However, Raine’s performance alone makes up for the series’ shortcomings. She is exemplary, flitting between exasperation and barely restrained violent rage.

A British White Lotus tinged with Lord of the Flies, the series shows how you never really know people until friendship morphs from texts and DMs to extended real-world engagement. After watching Two Weeks in August, you may just reconsider booking that holiday with your friend group.