This U.K. genre-bender combines Hitchcockian thrills with raunchy comedy, as an unexpected bond between two mothers leads to shocking revelations and amusing misunderstandings
A heartfelt comedy about friendship and motherhood that’s also a paranoia-soaked thriller? Not the likeliest of genre mash-ups — but in the right creative hands, they can go together seamlessly.
Premiering Friday, Am I Being Unreasonable? centres on Nic (Daisy May Cooper) and Jen (Selin Hizli), two young mothers in small-town England who meet-cute at their kids’ school. Sharing an affinity for pitch-black put-downs and gossiping about the insufferable other parents — they become fast friends. But soon enough, checkered pasts, unspeakable secrets and hidden agendas bubble to the surface, and their bond begins to take on a more sinister tone.
“When we first started talking about the show, it was from those themes of friendship and motherhood,” explains Hizli, who not only stars but co-created the series with Cooper. “And then we started talking about references — like Hitchcock. Wouldn’t it be fun to do something with that kind of thriller vibe? And I think actually at first, maybe it did lean more that way, but Daisy is the funniest person I’ve ever met. She just has funny bones, so she can’t help but inject comic genius into everything.”
“I think that line between bursting into tears or bursting out laughing . . . they’re closer to each other than we sometimes think,” Hizli continues. “That’s why, when we felt like something was getting really intense and really dramatic, wouldn’t it be so fun — and so realistic — to just have something really stupid happen?”
Of course, those darker elements of the show provide more than just edge-of-your-seat intrigue, with each sin Nic or Jen commits — however pulpy it may seem — offering a window into some very grounded human frailty. “When you are approaching something that has got that thriller element and you’ve got people taking extreme actions, I think it’s quite easy for characters to become a stereotype,” says Hizli. “And I was always really interested in making sure that our characters felt real. They might do mad things, but there’s a really human, really relatable reason.”
For instance, she reflects: “I found, and still do at times find, motherhood to be quite isolating. I think one of the things the show tackles is what can almost be a self-imposed isolation that can stem out of fear of getting things wrong, or fear of not being understood, or fear of not measuring up in some way. I think that’s why Nic and Jen go on to form such an intense relationship, because they’ve been going through these periods of isolation. Nic in her marriage — feeling alone, even though she’s in a house surrounded by people — and Jen living this nomadic lifestyle. They suddenly feel really seen by each other, and that’s really potent.”
Crafting an authentic portrayal of female friendship was, of course, a much easier task than the Hitchcock thrills, chills and double-crosses, given that Cooper and Hizli go back a ways in real life. They first met as students in drama school — but Am I Being Unreasonable? is actually their first time writing and acting together. Luckily, their professional relationship proved just as fruitful as their personal one. “It’s a weird thing to say, but these characters are the closest to us [that we’ve ever played] — not in their choice of actions, but in their dynamic and in their humour and the way they see the world . . . I was working with my best friend and it was just like being able to expand on all of those shared jokes that we have, and all of the history. And it being my first writing experience, it was so great to be doing it with someone who I felt understood me really well.”
What’s more, fans across the U.K. (where the series has already aired two seasons) have very much responded to that onscreen friendship . . . for better and for worse.
“When the show first came out, my kids were still at primary school,” Hizli chuckles, “and a lot of the other parents and a lot of the teachers were telling me how much they love the show. I was kind of going, ‘That’s not what I’m like, I promise . . . Oh my God, you heard me drop the C-bomb? I can’t show my face at this school again!’ ”
The series premiere of Am I Being Unreasonable? airs Friday, November 7 on BBC First
BBC First is on a nationwide free preview, now through December 28.