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- 2020
- TV-MA
- Sky Atlantic
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Sky Atlantic
Summary 20-something Kim Noakes (Maisie Williams) has been living with her mother in rural Scotland but one day decides it's time to see the world and experience life on her own in this dark comedy created by Gaby Hull. [Premiered originally in the UK on Sky Atlantic on 2 Sep 2020 and air in the US on HBO Max on 5 Nov 2020]
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Sky Atlantic
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Sky Atlantic
Two Weeks to Live
Season 1 Premiere: Sep 2, 2020
66
6.0
Summary 20-something Kim Noakes (Maisie Williams) has been living with her mother in rural Scotland but one day decides it's time to see the world and experience life on her own in this dark comedy created by Gaby Hull. [Premiered originally in the UK on Sky Atlantic on 2 Sep 2020 and air in the US on HBO Max on 5 Nov 2020]
All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
66
60% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
40% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
66
60% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
40% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
A nervy black comedy. ... If you enjoy Williams' balance of sweet and dangerous that she serves up here, and the tart assuredness Clifford punches into every line, "Two Weeks to Live" is a ton of fun and nimble to boot.
The fact that we have a solid idea of who Kim is at the outset is more than enough for us. ... While Two Weeks To Live needs to deepen a few other characters, it set up its story very well in its first episode, aided by the fine lead performance of Maisie Williams.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 16 User Ratings
6.0
50% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
31% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
19% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 16 User Ratings
6.0
50% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
31% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
19% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones) stars in this entertaining new series. She plays a young woman who’s been raised in isolation by her mom (Sian Clifford, best known as the sister in Fleabag). She embarks on a mission to revenge her father’s death, which takes her on a wild ride. The style is reminiscent of the British genre of sassy, somewhat violent criminal flicks, like the ones that made Guy Ritchie famous. The first 2 episodes bound out of the gate with lots of energy and unexpected surprises, but the remaining episodes seem a bit more tame. There are dark humor elements and occasional violent outburst throughout to keep viewers guessing. The attempt to create quirky characters isn’t as successful, although Williams maintains a steely pluck. Not always successful, but still enjoyable. (Six 30-minute episodes and an open ending, so expect a 2nd season)
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The gags are cleverly layered: if there’s ever a cheesy line, it tumbles into a smarter joke, then erupts into some shocking act of violence. While Jay and Nicky trade barbs as if they’re at an Inbetweeners convention, there’s also a decent amount of heart to their relationship, and a thread of grief and loss running through Two Weeks to Live that gives it extra depth. Mostly, though, it survives on the strength of its performances.
It initially felt a bit too "teenage" for a fogey like me. However, it gets better and I don't think it is a coincidence that it improves the more Sian Clifford (aka Claire from Fleabag) is in it. That is not to disparage Maisie Williams's performance as the young Kim.
Slight and stubbornly unfunny, the six-episode series is a diverting-enough showcase for its two female leads. But it also feels lumpy and ungainly, somehow underwritten and overstuffed at the same time.
The show was watchable but too precocious. The plot starts interesting but became more and more meandering and pointless as the show went on. The humor is often cringe and not in a good way. At the end I didn't care what happens to the characters.
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"Two Weeks to Live" tries to be a funny and black-humoured story featuring Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams playing "Kim Noakes" in a 6-episode mini series about a reclusively raised girl (Williams) taking her first steps into "society" of a small not specifically named English small rural community.
Williams is accompanied by two actors playing the bumbling brothers Mawaan Rizwan ("Nicky") and Taheen Modak ("Jay") who not only, the viewer is led to believe, are relative "nobodies", each on their own non-merits, but also gladly and stereotypcially fulfil the "dumb but heroic and good-hearted & smart, nerdy and shy" duo cliché. Yawn. Add to that the some outright strange cops, coming from the clichéd drawer below the first one and you have yourself: a plot set for mediocrity.
So why didn't I think this at least made for decent entertainment?
Let's start with the setup: HBO might have researched the niche genre of "HANNA", a great Thriller Film featuring Saoirse Ronan, playing the "secluded, brought up by dad as a Killer" child enigma. That movie nailed not only the topic, but also the tension and misunderstandings that such a castaway from society would face when thrown into it all of a sudden by events out of their control. "Two Weeks to Live" for me looks like the "humorous" take on the topic.
Alas, the hand of cards Williams was dealt here in form of the script written by Gaby Hull (according to IMDB) and directed by Al Campbell wasn't enabling her to play her deck to her fullest. Either that, or she's a fish out of water once the really great GoT "supporting cast" that carried a lot of the later episodes plotholes to their graves disappeared into the winds after the Season 8 finale.
While the cast seemed to have fun spouting the sometimes downright unfunny one-liners to each other, it's the story and character building or the absence of most of it during the six episodes that makes this a more miss-than-hit affair.
The series is, somewhat, saved by the appearance of the party responsible for Kim's absence in modern society, namely her mom, played by Kerry Howard. But it's simply not enough to save the already ongoing mess, made worse later by a side plot involving two corrupt cops, as clichéd as they come and with no background given, which makes it worse.
"Two Weeks To Live"'s shenenigans are just too manifold and all over the place, the motivations of characters remain vastly unclear outside of skimming "in it for the money" tropes. The red thread, the typical "boy loves girl" does not carry it at least for my tastes. Too gruesome are some of the deeds that are going on, unexplained to the main cast that is supposed to "buy into them" on a whim, too dumb the antagonists and seemingly lacking to find its footing the paper-thin plot.
For Maisie Williams I hope there'll be better options forthcoming to show her talents, unless she only worked really well with the supporting cast of GoT, now gone with the wind in all directions into solo projects after sailing into the Sunset of Season 8.
As the series is kind of open-ended, HBO kept the option to develop a Season 2. I sincerely doubt anyone will be interested enough in it, sadly.
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A comedy in which the jokes don't land. An drama in which the the characters just can't wait to state their exposition directly to the camera before smarmily quipping yesteryear's warmed-over one-liners. It's not hard to imagine the fun, interesting story that Two Weeks to Live wants to be, but this falls so far short as to be embarrassing. I don't think it's intended to be a cringe comedy . . . at least not the type where every attempt at a joke is a cringeworthy failure.
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Production Company:
- Kudos Film and Television
Initial Release Date: Sep 2, 2020
Number of seasons: 1 Season
Rating: TV-MA
Awards
Venice TV Award
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination