Channel 4’s unflinching new drama paints a terrifying picture of digital misogyny in schools and the real-life assaults it causes. It’s a carefully told story, delivered by an excellent young cast
There is a lot that is timely about playwright Emma Dennis-Edwards’ one-off drama about sexual assault – and a lot that is horribly timeless. Anxiety about how YouTube misogynists might warp teenage minds is very much of this Andrew-Tate-on-trial moment. But the way power dynamics play out to protect perpetrators and silence victims? That goes way back.
Lashay Anderson stars as Natalie, a confident scholarship student at an elite private school, which only recently began admitting girls to its sixth form. When she is named captain of the debate team it is notable, first because she is the only girl ever to have held the title and, second, because – in a moment of plot foreshadowing – her inaugural speech is being covertly filmed. What is the look in that boy’s eyes as he frames Natalie in his cameraphone viewfinder? Puppy love? Base hormonal lust? Or something else?
