The Conversation (0)
TV
Sinead Butler
Sep 17, 2021
The pandemic drama The Help aired on our TV screens last night, and people have been blown away by the “amazing” and “incredible” performances by Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham.
Set in a fictional Liverpool care home in spring 2020, a woman named Sarah (Jodie Comer) finds her calling as a carer at Sunshine Homes. She shares a particular bond with patient Tony (Stephen Graham) who has Young Onset Alzheimer’s.
But in March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic hits. Now Sarah and her colleagues have to “tirelessly fight tooth and nail, ill-equipped, poorly prepared, and seemingly left helpless by the powers that be”, according to the plot synopsis.
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Viewers seem to unanimously agree that the 98-minute drama accurately portrays the realities of what carers were up against during the height of the pandemic last year and many have praised the performances of Comer and Graham on Twitter.
Jodie Comer & Stephen Graham are literally national treasures. Their level of acting is second to none #Help 🇬🇧 https://t.co/dyjBZAyHcW— Shredz (@Shredz) 1631826455
Stephen Graham and Jodie Comer are impeccable, two of the greatest actors this country will ever produce. #Help— Thomas Coley (@Thomas Coley) 1631824409
This is an extraordinary performance from Jodie Comer. There are no words that can do it justice. It is truly off… https://t.co/TqRer4BRTE— Karl Cunliffe (@Karl Cunliffe) 1631827554
Yeah so Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham need to win every award going for these performances. 👏🏻 #help https://t.co/dmVUbrYkoa— Ewan Hamilton (@Ewan Hamilton) 1631829589
Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham are an outrageous combination 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 #help— Mr J O’Keeffe (@Mr J O’Keeffe) 1631823560
jodie comer and stephen graham,, please pay our therapy bills you broke our hearts 🥲— mirte (@mirte) 1631874163
People were particularly touched by Comer’s monologue at the end, delivered in the back of a police car, where she talks about society’s unwillingness to care. She tearfully asks: “When did our lives stop being worth the same, eh?”
Jodie Comer is an extraordinary talent - there aren’t many around like her Liverpool is rightly very proud of her… https://t.co/LAyRPnfBmQ— Liam Thorp (@Liam Thorp) 1631858283
the final scene where #jodiecomer jodie comer delivers this powerful fuck u to the government is so incredible god… https://t.co/7O0sKNQnIo— 🕴 (@🕴) 1631827766
I’m broken. Jodie Comer has just delivered the performance of her career in that 20-minute (or so) scene. I don’t t… https://t.co/aBHlrPYMvb— Elliot Gonzalez (@Elliot Gonzalez) 1631827385
AND THIS IS HOW JODIE COMER BECOMES A TWO-TIME BAFTA AWARD WINNER https://t.co/QocisrieFX— killing eve struggle tweets (@killing eve struggle tweets) 1631828972
Jodie Comer everybody. That is all. #Help https://t.co/cj7nYXghhK— Tierna McNally (@Tierna McNally) 1631873947
The drama also reflected viewers’ own personal experiences and similar struggles during the pandemic.
I don’t know about anyone else. But the #Help on @Channel4 last night really got to me. We lost my father in law in… https://t.co/RCBEZi54aH— Jess Branch ⧖⃝ (@Jess Branch ⧖⃝) 1631875217
@Channel4 @StephenGraham73 @jackthorne @marcmunden I lost my Dad to Covid whilst he was ‘safe’ in his care home!!!… https://t.co/8MQAXyghAh— Annette Allen (@Annette Allen) 1631827850
@Channel4 @StephenGraham73 @jackthorne @marcmunden I’m a critical care nurse nothing has ever moved me like this ha… https://t.co/gsjaaIukBK— Rachel Alvers (@Rachel Alvers) 1631826975
@Channel4 @StephenGraham73 @jackthorne @marcmunden Having watched this and my mother who is a resident in a severel… https://t.co/c38xfpnvoK— Janine Fisher (@Janine Fisher) 1631864636
The drama also has BAFTA award-winning writer Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials, National Treasure) and BAFTA award-winning director Marc Munden (The Third Day, Utopia) on board.
“There were carers who felt responsible [for the crisis], and that was the bit that felt unforgiveable for me,” Thorne told the BBC. “Carers are massively undervalued, and they were massively undervalued during the pandemic.
Munden told the same publication: “We were talking to people who hadn’t had time to grieve, and they felt responsible, but they also felt they’d been betrayed, and that was really upsetting. Because it hadn’t stopped by the time we’d started the research. I do feel the government completely betrayed the care sector compared with the NHS.”
The Help is now available to watch on All 4.