Common Sense Media Review
By Jenny Nixon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Violent British murder-mystery is creepy yet compelling.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
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Where to Watch
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The Devil's Hour
What's the Story?
THE DEVIL'S HOUR refers to 3:33 a.m., the time at which social worker and single mom Lucy Chambers (Jessica Raine, Call the Midwife) wakes up every night, wracked with insomnia and terrifying visions. She juggles her day job helping troubled families with trying to help her own -- her mother an incoherent dementia patient, her son a disconnected and emotionally blank enigma whose condition has baffled no fewer than seven area psychiatrists. As if this isn't enough, Lucy begins experiencing hallucinatory bouts of déjà vu during her waking hours which, however improbable, seem to suggest a connection between herself and a decades-long string of unsolved murders. Detective Inspector Ravi Dhillon (Nikesh Patel) and his partner try to help Lucy connect the dots before things get any worse.
Is It Any Good?
The series hooks you from the jump with a foreboding, contentious confrontation between a bruised and bloodied Lucy and a sinister, monologuing suspect in shackles (Peter Capaldi, Doctor Who). It's a clever ploy, inspiring you to wonder what in the heck has just happened here, how this woman got hurt, and what this jailbird could possibly be going on about. You'll gladly spend the remaining episodes of The Devil's Hour watching the mystery unfurl in time-jumped bits and pieces that are stitched back together fascinatingly at its climax. The cast is fabulous: Capaldi being suitably creepy, Patel an innately likable good guy -- but it's Raine who really grounds the thing. A not-so-standard police procedural woven through with themes of familial trauma and the nature of time, this is an addictive and memorable watch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the way our lives and histories are interconnected, and how one small decision can have a ripple effect on everything that comes after it. Can you think of some examples of this from your own life?
Lucy continually makes an effort to connect with her son Isaac. Why do you think she refuses to give up on him when his father is the polar opposite? Should a parent's love be conditional? Why or why not?
TV Details
- Premiere date : October 28, 2022
- Cast : Peter Capaldi , Jessica Raine , Nikesh Patel
- Network : Prime Video
- Genre : Drama
- TV rating :
- Last updated : July 6, 2023
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