OR

Email Address

Password

Forgot password?

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews

See All

77

USER SCORE

No score yet

tbd

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

tbd	Your Score
tbd	User Score No score yet

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story

Series Details & Credits

BritBox | Release Date: February 17, 2025

Summary: In 1955 Ruth Ellis (Lucy Boynton) confesses to murdering her abusive boyfriend (Laurie Davidson) and her attorney (Toby Jones) seeks to find out why in the four-part series based on Carol Ann Lee's biography, "A Fine Day for Hanging: The Real Ruth Ellis Story".

[Premiered originally in the US on BritBox on 17 Feb 2025 and in the UK onIn 1955 Ruth Ellis (Lucy Boynton) confesses to murdering her abusive boyfriend (Laurie Davidson) and her attorney (Toby Jones) seeks to find out why in the four-part series based on Carol Ann Lee's biography, "A Fine Day for Hanging: The Real Ruth Ellis Story".

[Premiered originally in the US on BritBox on 17 Feb 2025 and in the UK on ITV One on 5 Mar 2025]… Expand

Genre(s): Drama, Movie/Mini-Series

Recent Episodes

No episode information is currently available for this season

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

77

Positive:

6

Mixed:

2

Negative:

0

Critic Reviews

90

Variety

Aramide Tinubu

Feb 21, 2025

Season 1 Review: The entire show is rapidly paced and full of information, but the second half of “A Cruel Love” is the more compelling. .... Moving beyond Ruth, the series is even more riveting when it looks toward the societal standards of the time. Read full review

80

Decider

Joel Keller

Feb 21, 2025

Season 1 Review: While we wish there was a bit more of Ruth Ellis’ backstory at the beginning of A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, it’s still an intriguing story about the last woman executed in Great Britain, with a fine lead performance by Lucy Boynton. Read full review

80

The Times Carol Midgley

Mar 5, 2025

Season 1 Review: All four episodes are available but the last is the most affecting. Particularly the scenes that show Ellis spending her final weeks in Holloway prison. Read full review

80

The Independent Phil Harrison

Mar 5, 2025

Season 1 Review: The excellent lead, Lucy Boynton, is equal parts insolent charisma and wary vulnerability, a woman so accustomed to withstanding life’s hard knocks that she finds it difficult to let her guard down under any circumstances. If the story has a moral centre, it is provided by Toby Jones’s John Bickford. Jones is as superb as ever, albeit in the kind of role he’s perhaps in danger of finding himself stuck in for good. Read full review

80

i Julia Raeside

Mar 7, 2025

Season 1 Review: As a period piece, it’s polished and beautifully shot, but as an agent of change, the jury is still out. Read full review

60

The Guardian Rebecca Nicholson

Mar 5, 2025

Season 1 Review: At times, A Cruel Love seems similarly hamstrung and never quite feels as if it gets to know Ellis. Perhaps that is the point. There are no clean lines. Read full review

60

The Observer (UK) Barbara Ellen

Mar 10, 2025

Season 1 Review: A Cruel Love is marred by crass melodrama. .... In later episodes, Boynton brings Ellis’s humanity and vulnerability to the fore (sitting in her cell doing jigsaws; nervously eating her last breakfast) and it’s very powerful. Read full review

SEE ALL 8 REVIEWS

Write a Review

tbd

Positive:

0

Mixed:

0

Negative:

0

No reviews yet.

More From Metacritic

What to Watch Right Now on Paramount+

Find a list of the best recent and upcoming film and TV titles added to...

What to Watch Right Now on Amazon's Prime Video

Get a list of the best movie and TV titles recently added (and coming...

What to Watch Right Now on Netflix

Get a list of the best movie and TV titles recently added (and coming...

What to Watch Right Now on Hulu

Get a list of the best movie and TV titles recently added (and coming...

Current TV Shows

By MetascoreBy User Score

1 92 The Pitt: Season 2

2 90 The Celebrity Traitors UK: Season 1

4 87 Hacks: Season 5

5 87 Industry: Season 4

6 87 Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal:...

7 85 The Beatles Anthology

8 85 The Traitors [UK]: Season 4

9 85 Bait: Season 1

10 84 Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!

11 83 Lord of the Flies

12 83 Riot Women: Season 1

13 83 For All Mankind: Season 5

14 81 The Muppet Show (2026)

15 80 Outlander (2014): Season 8

16 80 The Other Bennet Sister: Season 1

17 80 The Mighty Nein: Season 1

18 80 The Comeback: Season 3

19 80 One Piece (2023): Season 2

20 80 Dark Winds: Season 4

SEE ALL

Seasons & Episodes

77

Series Overview
Season 1

77
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: February 17, 2025
- No episode information is currently available for this season