Television series

The Virtues

Stephen Graham plays a man unraveling after years of abuse in state care, returning to Ireland to face his past. It's a four-part character study that doesn't flinch from cruelty or shame, balanced against an unexpectedly tender relationship. For anyone who believes great drama should wound and heal at once.

TVMaze rating3.9

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Chernobyl2019

A five-part miniseries about ordinary people confronting catastrophe with the same unflinching intensity. Craig Mazin's writing finds human truth in historical trauma without sentimentality or relief.

But It's relentlessly bleak and moves between perspectives rapidly, which demands your full attention throughout.

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Scarborough2022

A five-part character drama from Stephen Graham's perspective, set in a decaying seaside town. It has the same unflinching look at working-class damage and the possibility of connection.

But The narrative is deliberately fragmented and the tone rarely lets up—it can feel punishing.

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MINDHUNTER2017

Character-focused, morally complex, built on interviews and observation rather than action. It shares The Virtues' interest in how trauma and psychology shape people, with David Fincher's meticulous direction.

But Despite the subject matter, it's cerebral and methodical—some find it slow for a crime drama.

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Aftersun2022

Both unfold through small moments of connection between damaged people, trusting the viewer to feel what's unspoken. Both are about love as a form of repair that never quite finishes.

A father and daughter on holiday; mostly quiet, occasionally devastating. Charlotte Wells' film is about presence and absence, love and failure—exactly The Virtues' emotional register compressed into 101 minutes.

But Nothing much happens. It relies entirely on performance and mood, and if you resist that, it will feel painfully slow.

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More like this (7)

Godless2017

A four-part Western miniseries with an extraordinary cast and the same commitment to character over spectacle. Beautifully shot, morally complex, uncompromising about violence and redemption.

But It's deliberately paced and won't appeal if you want traditional Western heroics or simple answers.

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The Fall2013

Stella Gibson is a masterclass in a sharp, damaged person learning to trust. Like The Virtues, it's about the psychology of trauma and the slow possibility of human connection.

But The serial killer plot can overshadow character work that some viewers find more interesting than the procedural.

The Fall poster

Penny Dreadful2014

Gothic and literary, but really about broken people finding family in darkness. John Logan writes with the same moral seriousness and willingness to let characters suffer and grow.

But It's heavily stylised and Victorian gothic—the aesthetics dominate, which won't suit everyone's taste.

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Eastbound & Down2009

A man returning home to face failure, shame, and the possibility of change. It's funny but never cynical, brutal but humanist—a template for depicting masculine damage with real care.

But It's a comedy, so some might miss the tonal shifts or expect laughs where it gets serious.

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Bodyguard2018

A six-part thriller with Stephen Graham in a supporting role, equally invested in character psychology and moral complexity. Taut and gripping while never losing sight of why people matter.

But It's primarily a thriller, so the character work happens alongside plot mechanics some find intrusive.

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Belfast2021

Both are about returning to Ireland to reckon with what childhood made you. Both understand that home is always a crime scene.

Kenneth Branagh's black-and-white memory of childhood in the Troubles—a completely different context, but the same Ireland, the same working-class damage, the same understanding of how place marks you forever.

But It's a family drama, not a thriller. Some found it sentimental where The Virtues stays hard.

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The Double Life of Véronique1991

Both believe that connection between broken people is miraculous and real, but neither explains how it works. Both trust the audience to sit with mystery.

Krzysztof Kieślowski's film about two women connected without knowing it, shot with extraordinary visual poetry. It's about fate, doubled lives, and the strange grace of unexpected connection—in a completely different register.

But It's Polish cinema from the 1990s and will demand patience. Some viewers find it mystifying or frustratingly elliptical.

The Double Life of Véronique poster

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