Common Sense Media Review
By Marty Brown
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Intriguing but melodramatic real-life mystery lacks nuance.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
I Am the Night
What's the Story?
In the late 1960s, Fauna Hodel (India Eisley) discovers that she was adopted and decides to track down her real parents in I AM THE NIGHT. She makes contact with her biological grandfather, the mysterious George Hodel (Jefferson Mays), and travels to meet with him in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, tabloid reporter Jay Singletary (Chris Pine) is roused from his unsatisfying day-to-day life after receiving an anonymous tip that the same George Hodel may be connected with the notorious Black Dahlia slaying of 1947.
Is It Any Good?
Despite an intriguing premise and some highly-skilled directors -- including Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), this series feels underdeveloped, and maybe even more suited to a shorter movie than a longer show. It drags its heels in setting up the premise, spending too much time characterizing its protagonist, Fauna, as a martyr. She seems to lack discernable positive or negative traits, but her tragic history is overexplored: mistreatment by her peers, her employers, and, in a series of long, indulgent scenes, her alcoholic adoptive mother. The complex story, which includes both true crime and nuanced depictions of race and racism, needed a strong eye for detail, and unfortunately I Am the Night doesn't quite get there.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the time period when I Am the Night takes place. What was going on in America at the time? In Nevada, where India grows up? In California?
How did segregation and post-segregation affect India's upbringing? How does being a light-skinned black woman affect her?
What does the main character think journalism should be? Does he act in accordance with those beliefs? How do you define journalism?
TV Details
- Premiere date : January 28, 2019
- Cast : Chris Pine , India Eisley , Jefferson Mays
- Network : TNT
- Genre : Drama
- TV rating :
- Last updated : November 16, 2021
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