The Casual Vacancy

:

Season 1
Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24

Critic Reviews

  1. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    Apr 29, 2015
    60
    A small town, character-driven drama that’s enjoyable enough even if the characters are not entirely believable.
  2. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Nancy DeWolf Smith
    Apr 27, 2015
    60
    The Casual Vacancy was riveting while it lasted. When it was over, though, I wanted to stick a fork in my face.
  3. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Don Kaplan
    Apr 9, 2015
    60
    As a television series, The Casual Vacancy stands on its own, but it has only a goblet’s worth of Potter magic.
  5. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Margaret Lyons
    Apr 29, 2015
    50
    The performances are fine, the story lines appropriately interwoven. Everything is totally competent.... [But] the details are the story, and simplifying them and sanding them down leaves Vacancy with a real dull streak.
  6. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
    Reviewed by: Gail Pennington
    Apr 29, 2015
    50
    Writer Sarah Phelps has done her best, but short of throwing out Rowling's characters and plot, there was no real way to make The Casual Vacancy bearable.
  7. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Robert Rorke
    Apr 28, 2015
    50
    The story--while it may have been fun to read on paper--is slight and even puzzling on screen.
  8. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Apr 28, 2015
    50
    In the end, this dreary British import proves that the only thing more boring than agitprop drama is someone else's agitprop drama.
  9. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    Apr 28, 2015
    42
    By losing the emotional core of the film essentially after the first act--the death of Kinnear's saintly Fairbrother--the film spends the next three-plus hours trying to fill the void. Fools rush in to fill it, but because most of them are treated with such contempt, or pity, none can or possibly could.
  10. Yahoo TV
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    Apr 29, 2015
    40
    Despite its quaint picturesque town backdrop, The Casual Vacancy is an ugly little piece of work, filled with bitterness, sniping, selfishness, and cruelty. There is no character other than Barry who seems remotely appealing or interesting.
  11. Las Vegas Weekly
    Reviewed by: Josh Bell
    Apr 28, 2015
    40
    It’s far too dreary to be a comedy, and its social commentary is often blunt and ineffective. Worse, the narrative has no momentum, spending three hours on the tedious minutiae of relationships among more than a dozen characters, most of whom are barely fleshed out.
  12. Time
    Reviewed by: James Poniewozik
    Apr 28, 2015
    40
    The decision to build out Krystal’s story is one of the best choices of this adaption, giving depth and shading to a story that more often swings from sourness to melodrama.
  13. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Keith Uhlich
    Apr 28, 2015
    40
    Despite the treacly smugness, which doesn’t become fully evident until the third episode, it’s easy to get caught up in The Casual Vacancy’s soapy drama and to admire a number of the performances.
  14. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Apr 28, 2015
    40
    There are so many characters, frankly, that Casual Vacancy spends virtually all of the first hour just introducing them. The second expands upon that somewhat, before the third finally seeks to bring a measure of tragic resolution to it all, while leaving a number of threads a bit too casually dangling.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 16 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 16
  3. Negative: 5 out of 16
  1. Cmpr
    May 9, 2015
    0
    I quite enjoyed the book but the HBO adaptation missed the whole point of the book. It had a great cast but the characters could have had soI quite enjoyed the book but the HBO adaptation missed the whole point of the book. It had a great cast but the characters could have had so much more depth. It seems it was a poor choice to condense this into a three hour series. A longer series would have allowed more of the original story to emerge.… Full Review »
  2. GinaK
    May 3, 2015
    8
    To my surprise, I enjoyed this miniseries very much. I didn't intend to, but I binged on it last night and was never bored once. Perhaps thisTo my surprise, I enjoyed this miniseries very much. I didn't intend to, but I binged on it last night and was never bored once. Perhaps this was because of the superlative acting, especially by Julia McKenzie. I agree that the story did not have a lot of charm, like many of the shows on Masterpiece theater, but rather gave a look at what village life is really like in Britain where they wrestle with social issues just like we do in the States, but which you will never find even hinted at on Midsomer Murders. The entire cast and crew (director, screenwriter, etc.) did a great job making Rowling's characters come alive. I didn't read the original novel, which I believe is a satire, but this production seemed more human comedy and serious than satiric.… Full Review »
  3. Knighthawk81
    Apr 30, 2015
    5
    When you hear a story is based on a novel by J.K. Rowling, you can't help but think of "Harry Potter." What set that apart wasn't just theWhen you hear a story is based on a novel by J.K. Rowling, you can't help but think of "Harry Potter." What set that apart wasn't just the magic, it was the building of worlds and characters. By comparison, "The Casual Vacancy" is hollow. It's about the untimely death of a man in a small town, and the squabble about who will replace him on the town council. The first two parts aired last night, and by the end of the first hour it was still unclear who these people are and why we should really care, and that's a problem.… Full Review »
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