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Consent is a new one-off Channel 4 drama set at a school where we see Archie (Tom Victor) and Natasha (Lashay Anderson) look like they’re possibly becoming an item, but due to peer pressure, the lads he hangs out with are very derogatory about women in general, as shown in their group chat messages to each other, and these are shown onscreen as if they’re all talking directly to each other in the same room, which can seem a bit weird at first, but you do get used to it.
Natalie’s clearly a high-flier, winning the prize for her debating team, but at her 18th birthday party, Archie’s so-called friends are spurring him on to do the business on the night, and around the same time as one of his friends has been transgressing in a different way, and may or may not be exposed.
But by the end of the night, she’s completely wasted, and the next morning, we see him asking her if she got home okay, but she’s not responding to anyone… and when he eventually does see her, she’s very reserved, at one point asking him what happened. This leaves him not understanding why she’s how she is – did they do it? And was consent given?
This drama does a good job of keeping the viewer in the dark about the specifics while the situation plays out, and even the trailer has a suggestion from one friend, about “deleting the video” because “No face, no case”.
It also puts Archie’s sister Alice (Rhea Norwood) in quandary, since she’s Natalie’s best friend.
How will things play out? You’ll have to watch to find out. No spoilers here! But note that this is a worthwhile drama to be watched by everyone, especially those of an age the same as the characters.
As an aside, Consent also stars Kimberley Nixon as their teacher, Ms Parkinson, and Ms Nixon should be in everything. She’s ace!
Consent is on Channel 4 tonight at 10pm, and is now on All 4. It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Director: Nadira Amrani
Producer: Tracie Simpson
Writer: Emma Dennis-Edwards
Music: Adiescar Chase
Cast:
Natasha: Lashay Anderson
Archie: Tom Victor
Alice: Rhea Norwood
Raffy: Ty Tennant
Kojo: Denzel Baidoo
Lily: Nell Barlow
Navjot: Dee Ahluwalia
Kyle: Alex Heath
Lawrence: Geoffrey Streatfield
Ms Parkinson: Kimberley Nixon
Headmaster: Richard Harringont
Fiona: Elen Rhys
Sara: Emma Dennis-Edwards
Lisa: Tonya Smith
Rob: Matthew Doman
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.