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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
25
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews
Jun 17, 2020
Season 1 Review:
In an instant, a show that at first seems to blend the best elements of “Fleabag,” “Euphoria” and “Insecure” takes a serious swerve in an emotionally startling direction. ... Nearly every moment here is worth unpacking. ... At its considerable heart, “I May Destroy You” tells a striking story of transformation.
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The Daily BeastJun 8, 2020
Season 1 Review:
The show’s greatest triumph is how thoroughly and intuitively it expresses the difficult themes at its center. Sometimes it’s sad; sometimes it’s gut-wrenching; sometimes it’s improbably funny. What remains consistent is that through it all, it’s impossible to look away.
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Jun 8, 2020
Season 1 Review:
"I May Destroy You" is the artist ascending to the next level by mixing comedy and pain together in a strange, harrowing, and vitalizing soup. ... Coel's writing and the command of filmic artistry somehow prevails over the what reads as a such corrosive sadness. It's a testament to her skill that "I May Destroy You" manages to be funny and tender in all the right places, fearlessly cuffing viewers to discomfort, be it her character's and her own, in others.
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IndieWireJun 8, 2020
Season 1 Review:
“I May Destroy You” is moving and, despite the subject matter, at times very funny. It should inspire plenty of conversation about very sensitive subject matter with ever-increasing complexities. It marks bold new territory for Coel, who’s operating at a level unmatched among her peers.
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Jun 5, 2020
Season 1 Review:
The direction is lucid, employing a camera that is both curious and kind. The writing is striking for its willingness to delve into uncomfortable territory without ever flinching from the emotional bramble at hand. But what I keep coming back to when I think of I May Destroy You is Coel’s performance. ... It is through Coel’s tremendous performance that the wrenching complications of healing from sexual trauma are seen clearly in the light of day, with an honesty and complexity other series could learn from.
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Jun 24, 2020
Season 1 Review:
Michaela Coel is a riveting actor, and talented writer and both come to the fore in I May Destroy You. We’re looking forward to seeing how she deals with the issues of consent and sexual assault on the series, all the while doing so with a sardonic bent that this topic usually doesn’t receive. The balance she tries to achieve will be fascinating to watch.
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Jun 4, 2020
Season 1 Review:
In “I May Destroy You,” [actress and director/writer Michaela Coel] rarely strikes a false note. ... While the series begins and ends strongly, there are times in the middle when it loses some focus. ... At just about every step, it’s touching and quietly hilarious. Coel gets away with things that would be dicey for other writer-directors, and she does it with consistency.
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Jun 3, 2020
Season 1 Review:
I May Destroy You stays on the right side of the line between providing context and shifting blame by telling an uncommonly holistic story. ... This degree of complexity would’ve been enough to distinguish the show from hundreds of earlier representations of sexual misconduct. Remarkably, though, it grows even more ambitious as it continues, without alienating viewers by deploying academic buzzwords or condescending lectures. ... More than the story of a woman who was raped, Coel is telling the story of how a writer living an unexamined life comes to know herself.
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Jun 4, 2020
Season 1 Review:
All of this adds up to a weighty, ambitious attempt to wade through incredibly difficult subject matter, but one that also seeks to balance with earnest optimism and a desire for healing. ... But more than anything, it’s a thought-provoking work that should make us consider our own relationship to trauma, experienced by ourselves or others, as well as hopefully this new cultural awakening to the many, many different kinds of sexual assault.
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ColliderJun 8, 2020
Jun 5, 2020
Season 1 Review:
While the outcome is overwhelmingly positive thanks to an earnest, talented cast, there are a few characters that register as loose ends or don’t contribute much to the story beyond an affable presence. ... The episodes that do fuel the show’s main arcs are brilliantly executed.
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Jun 5, 2020
Season 1 Review:
Ms. Coel has not just a modernist manner of storytelling but a refreshing defiance of convention—why, for instance, should her characters be less sympathetic just because they’re not particularly likable? “I May Destroy You” may attract viewers initially because of its enigmatic title, but many will stick around just for the style.
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Jun 5, 2020
Season 1 Review:
Coel is undeniably comfortable in her body and non-European beauty, and delivers a raw performance and story that unflinchingly examines consent, victim shaming, gender, race, class, imposter syndrome, and our over-reliance on social media through the lens of a Black Londoner.
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Jun 5, 2020
Season 1 Review:
It's angry and confused in intentional ways, messy and erratically focused in logical ways and a guaranteed conversation-starter certain to generate equal measures of devotion and abrupt dismissal. Over the 12 half-hour episodes, there were many times I wasn't enjoying the show and several points at which I lost track of narrative threads. But my interest never wavered in the audacious and precarious thing that Coel is attempting.
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Jun 5, 2020
Season 1 Review:
It’s a wild balance to strike, and if the show can’t quite keep all its plates spinning at once, it makes the moments where the show comes together pop with exceptional clarity. At its best, I May Destroy You ruffles your feathers unpleasantly, creating moments that trigger an urge to laugh uncontrollably commingled with a sense of spreading unease.
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Jun 5, 2020
Season 1 Review:
At times, there doesn't seem to be enough story to sustain 12 episodes, and the pacing sometimes veers from leisurely to lethargic. Some plot tangents, including a flashback to Terry and Arabella's high school days, take over entire episodes, dulling the momentum of the present-day narrative. Even when I May Destroy You drags, though, Coel's voice always comes through.
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