Best Interests, the heartbreaking and yet engaging drama from Jack Thorne, known for His Dark Materials, is the kind of show that hits you hard from the first moment and it never stops. The series, about two parents who disagree on the care of their daughter Marnie, is the kind of story with no villains. It’s also the type of story that has no heroes. Instead, this is a story about people doing the best they can—even when they don’t see eye to eye.
It’s easy when watching a show like this, to take sides. As I started watching, I expected to find myself firmly on Andrew’s (Michael Sheen) side—choosing to take medical advice. I didn’t think I’d be on Nicci’s side (Sharon Horgan), fighting a battle for what she believed was best, even though science was saying otherwise. And in many ways, I was. But perhaps the best thing about the show, the most affecting, is how the narrative presents a story that doesn’t have a happy ending, no matter who wins. Marnie is sick. Her parents are fighting a battle that won’t result in her getting better. There’s nothing they can do to make her better. That’s just reality.
That’s the thing about grief, and sometimes grief starts way before loss. Nicci and Andrew are fighting not just to do what they think is best for their daughter Marnie. They’re also fighting an abstract fight, one of ideas and values. Is what you believe more important than one more day with your child? One more hour? One more minute? Even if you say yes, can that hold up in the face of reality? It’s hard to say how one would react in those circumstances, which is exactly the point of Best Interests.
Michael Sheen gives a gut-wrenching performance as an Andrew who doesn’t love his daughter any less because he believes the doctors when they tell him it’s in Marnie’s best interest to withdraw care and allow her to die. Sharon Horgan is glorious as a Nicci who would rather fight until the last moment—because that’s what you do for your children. And yet, the show stands out not just because of their two clear-eyed, yet emotional performances, but because of the clarity of a script that knows not just what story it wants to tell, but how hard it is to tell that story.
Legal considerations aside—and a lot of the story exists in the legal plane—the story is about the people, the feelings, and the pain and not about what’s right or wrong. Instead, Best Interests invites you to decide the answer to that question yourself. And if you cannot, it at least invites you to answer what you would do in Andrew and Nicci’s place. Just as it reminds you that, whatever your answer is, the reality you are facing will not change. That’s the heartbreaking part, in the end. This isn’t a fight to fix something. It’s a fight to decide what to do in the face of a situation that doesn’t really have a solution.
In the face of TV which is typically black and white, that is indeed very refreshing. It’s also exactly as sad as you imagine.
Best Interests is available to stream on Acorn TV.
