A perfectly-timed new TV series when it was released (based on the 2017 bestseller of the same name by Celeste Ng), this series starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington explores many facets of race and class conflict in American society.
Witherspoon portrays Elena, a wealthy White suburban Mom of four teenage children, seemingly well-intentioned and kind, but also narcissistic, uptight and clueless, whose life and family become increasingly intertwined with those of Washington's character Mia.
Mia is a mysterious free-spirited Black artist with a 15-year old daughter, who moves from place to place every few months in a beat-up old hatchback, for reasons that she doesn’t reveal but which increasingly add to the tension surrounding her, her daughter and their odd rootless lifestyle.
This situation quickly becomes a powder keg for all the racial and class tensions, as well as the family dramas and personalities, within and between the two families and the Shaker Heights community in Ohio. A really excellent piece of TV drama for our era. Highly recommended.
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