by Nathaniel R
Fra Fee (Hawkeye, Prime Target) and Sion Daniel Young (Slow Horses, The Left Behind) are would-be parents in LOST BOYS & FAIRIES
Herewith a very modern problem. You see something interesting on a streaming channel and you subscribe without hesitation. You know you have too many subscriptions already. Before you know it you are paying hundreds of dollars for 10 services + add-ons. As much as I wish I had more self-control in this arena, I know I am not alone. Sometimes, though, the bleeding wallet is worth it. After subscribing to BritBox on Amazon Prime solely to watch "Lost Boys & Fairies", I do not regret it one iota. I will not even regret it a year from now when I realize I haven't watched anything else and am still paying for this one watch every single month.
In other words, I am here to emphatically recommend Daf James' BAFTA nominated miniseries Lost Boys and Fairies. It's an often surprising, emotionally dense, occassionally tuneful, and funny tearjerker...
As the story begins, longtime boyfriends accountant Andy (Fra Fee) and Welsh performance artist Gabriel (Sion Daniel Young) are ready to take the next step in their relationship. They begin an interview process with a social worker (Elizabeth Berrington) to become adoptive parents. Andy's mom (Maria Doyle Kennedy) is all-in about becoming a grandmother while Gabriel's dad (William Thomas), who struggles to relate to his queer son, is less reliable in terms of future 'it takes a village' involvement. The boyfriends have only three musts: the child must be six years old or younger, a girl, and come with no special needs.
Sion Daniel Young as "Gabriel" in LOST BOYS & FAIRIES
While you fully expect that these well-intentioned men will have to rethink their only three 'must haves' Lost Boys unfolds in often unpredictable ways. The rapidly shifting narrative retreats, runs in circles, flashes back, and sprints forward with interestingly varied rhythms. The couple meets a precocious seven year old boy, Jake (Leo Harris) who has had a rough life in the system. Andy immediately feels a connection; Gabriel isn't so sure. And that's just one in a series of wrenching and insightful emotional conflicts to come.
You would think a three hour drama aiming to include queer found families, new parenting anxiety, aging parent/adult-child dynamics, bilingual cultural divides, residual coming out trauma, addiction recovery, grief and a surreal musical number straight out of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, has bitten off way more than it could possibly chew. I did and was thrilled to be proven wrong. Lost Boys and Fairies chews on its daunting meal with a desperately hungry joie de vivre. To share more details of the plot would be robbing you of the pleasure of discovery. A
Gwyneth Keyworth as "Becky" in LOST BOYS & FAIRIES
P.S. 'Holy Hell, This Actress!' Alert. It's not much of a spoiler to reveal that the series will eventually introduce us to Jake's birth mother since the notion of meeting her is raised early. Gwyneth Keyworth, an actress I was unfamiliar with, plays her. Her task is impossible: in the space of one scene stick the landing of this intense emotional ride with a woman we have zero connection to, after spending three hours getting to know other characters intimately. Do this while making us believe you're now stable enough to get this through this emotionally grueling moment with strangers but unable to mother your son. Incorporate all sorts of character details -- guarded brassness, intrinsic curiosity, lingering trauma, open-wound vulnerability -- without derailing the whole enterprise (it's not about you!) but instead dovetailing its emotional throughlines, all before the credits roll. Degree of difficulty: 10; Execution: 11.