Television series

The Slap

Name: The Slap
Genre: Drama
Released: 2011
Cast: Alex Dimitriades, Melissa George, Jonathan LaPaglia, Sophie Okonedo, Essie Davis

Other titles called The Slap: the 2015 series (NBC).

Drama

A Greek-Australian family gathers for a backyard barbecue. A man slaps another's child. Everything fractures. This eight-part series dissects class, parenting, loyalty and belonging through the aftermath of one gesture, watching comfortable people become strangers to each other.

TVMaze rating

3.6

If you liked this

Spotlight2015

Ensemble drama about systems that protect the powerful. Like The Slap, it traces how institutions close ranks, how good people enable harm, and what it costs to tell the truth.

But Methodical and restrained. If you want catharsis or vindication, you'll wait for it—and may not get it. The film moves at investigation pace, not drama pace.

The Affair2014

Infidelity shatters a marriage and radiates outward. Uses multiple perspectives to show how the same events look different depending who's remembering, creating the same moral vertigo as The Slap.

But Some seasons meander and lose focus. The show is unevenly paced, and it can feel like emotional punishment rather than exploration in stretches.

Succession2018

Family in crisis, status under threat, moral lines dissolving. It captures that same acidic comedy when people you thought you knew reveal what they actually are, and alliances shift in real time.

But Bleak and caustic in ways that can feel exhausting. If you need characters to root for or a sense of justice, you'll be disappointed. It's about damage, not redemption.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Slap

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Eulogy2004

Both compress family catastrophe into a single location and timeframe, watching how people splinter when their social performance breaks down.

A dysfunctional family gathers for a funeral. Small moments in a house reveal who these people actually are—unfiltered, desperate, funny, cruel. It has The Slap's architecture: one event, multiple perspectives, moral collapse.

But Obscure indie film with flat production values and a cast you won't know. It looks and feels cheap, which can read as amateurish rather than intimate.

The Leftovers2014

A community fractured by catastrophe. Characters interpret the same event completely differently, believe incompatible truths, and can't reconcile. It's grief and rupture as a social problem, not just a personal one.

But Surreal and sometimes baffling. It doesn't explain itself tidily. If you need concrete answers or straightforward narrative, you'll find it frustratingly elusive.

Olive Kitteridge2014

Four-part miniseries that treats a town and its relationships with The Slap's forensic attention. One caustic woman's ripples through years of lives, small gestures that undo people.

But Quiet and observational. There's no plot machinery. If you're looking for propulsive drama, it moves with the pace of actual life, which means slow.

We Need to Talk About Kevin2011

A mother and son after a terrible event, moving backward through time to understand how they got here. Asks: whose fault? How do we live with irreconcilable versions of the truth?

But Deeply disturbing and emotionally brutal. It doesn't offer comfort or easy answers. The film is punishing in the best and worst ways.

In Treatment2008

Five days a week, a therapist and patients circle around damage, class, power, and secrecy. Each episode reframes the others. Small conversations accumulate into something larger and darker.

But Depends entirely on dialogue. If you need action or plot momentum, fifty minutes of conversation will feel claustrophobic. Some sessions genuinely drag.

Manchester by the Sea2016

A family tragedy that unmakes itself and its survivors. Moves backward to show how people become who they are, and why some bonds can't be repaired no matter how much love is there.

But Grief without resolution. It's slow, digressive, and doesn't build toward catharsis. Some viewers find it mournful rather than moving—more like drowning than swimming.

I May Destroy You2020

A friendship tested by assault and its aftermath. Best friends navigate moral disagreement, betrayal, and the question of whether people can be forgiven for what they don't understand they did wrong.

But Tonal whiplash between comedy and trauma. Some people find the shifts jarring rather than sophisticated. It doesn't respect conventional scene-building or emotional beats.

Dogtooth2009

Both are Greek-Australian explorations of family ideology—how parents mythologize their own behavior, and what children absorb as normal. The Slap asks it in daylight; Dogtooth in darkness.

Greek film about a family so insular that its children don't know the world outside. Functions as mirror: examines how arbitrary parental power is, how quickly civilization vanishes, how consent collapses when hierarchies are absolute.

But Brutal, transgressive, and deeply unsettling. It's a punishment to watch. If you need moral clarity or humanism, this film refuses to provide it. Genuinely disturbing.

Fleabag2016

Both dissect the gap between how families present themselves and who they actually are. Both use ensemble perspective—multiple versions of truth—though Fleabag does it through intimacy rather than confrontation.

Two seasons about a chaotic woman and her fractured family. It shares The Slap's interest in how people construct narratives that justify themselves, and how conversation with the audience becomes confession—we know more than the characters want us to.

But Tonal and structural whimsy might feel precious. The fourth-wall breaks work beautifully or feel mannered depending on your patience. Some people find the cuteness undermines the drama.