Landscapers, starring Olivia Colman and David Thewlis, is a true-crime dark-comedy-drama that focuses on the charming relationship between Susan and Christopher Edwards after two dead bodies are shockingly uncovered from their garden in suburbia. The HBO mini-series is not a whodunit (as the murderous facts are all revealed within the first episode’s commencement), nor is it a typical and villainising true-crime story. Instead, it is a deeply empathetic portrayal of true love, which brilliantly portrays the malleability of truth, and sensitively, and hilariously, celebrates human idiosyncrasies. Despite their heinous deeds, the starring characters are deservedly and compassionately humanised, with the mini-series consciously not conforming to the typical binary representation of good, evil, innocent or guilty, with it forcing a question: to what extent are all of us responsible for the things we do? 

A deeply empathetic portrayal of true love

The starring performances by Olivia Colman and David Thewlis are agonisingly flawless. All performances, notably including Daniel Rigby’s hilariously sarcastic DCI, and Kate O’Flynn’s brusque DC, are glorious, however the starring duo’s masterful capability to make you laugh out loud, while simultaneously melting and breaking your heart, further inform the genius of Will Sharpe’s direction. 

The soft-spoken couple are seemingly anything but typical double murderers, with them both being incessantly polite, incessantly in love, and incessantly appreciative of the escape that cinema provides for them. This is especially the case with Olivia Colman’s character, Susan, whose love of cinema leads her to spend money she does not possess on an extremely eclectic mix of classic western film memorabilia. This behaviour is resonant of the ongoing idea within Landscapers, of the idea of truth, and of the fantasy adopted by the protagonists. 

The starring performances by Olivia Colman and David Thewlis are agonisingly flawless

Most true-crime series get entangled with the difficulty of how they represent what supposedly happened, Landscapers expertly sidesteps this trap through being intelligently self-aware. Every perceived version of events seemingly has its opportunity to shine, whether that be the extremely moving, western fantasy sequence (which is as inspired as it is beautiful), or the hardcore factual police depiction. The fabulousness of this mini-series is especially illustrated during a sequence in which the interrogative officer, DC Emma Lancing (Kate O’Flynn), does not just break the fourth wall during a police interview, but seemingly breaks the other three with it. 

The sense of mindfulness is consistent throughout the mini-series, with its enforcement of the knowledge that Landscapers itself is simply another equally valid take on the real-life event. This consequently forces you to consider how you engage with the presentation of fact, as the series draws the comparison between the categorical police certitude, and the crime’s emotional truth. 

This is all underpinned, correlative with much of Will Sharpe’s work, with a score by Arthur Sharpe. The sublime harmony created between the Ennio Morricone-style percussion, and the heavy stringed instruments that are resonant of 2019’s Joker, brilliantly capture the balance between the protagonists’ endearing relationship; deluded perspectives, horrible crime; and regretful reality.

 Landscapers is unlike anything before it. It is tragic, hilarious, and surreal. Will Sharpe’s direction takes the protagonist’s delusional sensibility and beautifully portrays it on the screen. The use of lighting and cinematography take you from their unimaginable headspace to the magical golden age of Hollywood. This manipulation of the craft, aided by Daniel Rigby’s retro moustache, imbues the series with a stark visual timelessness. 

Landscapers is unlike anything before it, it is tragic, hilarious and surreal

This is a true-crime drama that is not about the trial, it is not filled with boring court room jargon, or two-dimensional miscreants, but about a charming relationship, about empathy, about the power your past can have on you, and about how we confront our own truths. Throughout the series Landscapers keeps finding ways to top its own benchmark, and just when you think it cannot get any better, it does; then it does again. This four-episode mini-series deserves viewing, you will laugh, you will cry, and you will see the world differently. 

Rating: 5/5

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