What is war but an ugly, unflinching look at what the best and the worst humankind has to offer? In Justin Kurzel’s masterful miniseries The Narrow Road to the Deep North, an inner turmoil clashes with the war taking place in the outside world, leaving our protagonist between a rock and a hard place.
The series takes us through the eyes of Dorrigo (played by Jacob Elordi), who becomes a prisoner of war during WWII and indulges in a passionate affair with his uncle’s wife, Amy (the ever dazzling Odessa Young). With Dorrigo, we embark on a journey to the jungle, where men are horridly forced to endure hard labor, working on the Thailand-Burma Railway. As the exhausting work drives the men into physical and mental deterioration, Dorrigo is spared the greater horrors due to his position as the leader and doctor of the camp. It allows him more time to reflect and convey that to the audience through his stabilized physical and mental state.
Credit: Ingvar Kenne/Curio/Sony Pictures Television
The beauty of this miniseries lies in how it portrays Dorrigo, not as a sinner or a saint, but as a human being. Yes, he was a prisoner of war who underwent horrifying experiences, but he is also a serial cheater, arrogant, hostile, and somewhat unlikable. Older Dorrigo, in particular, is a terrible person. His untreated PTSD haunts him, and not just him; his wife, Ella, has had enough of his multiple betrayals and darkness, despite loving him. Justin Kurzel and cinematographer Sam Chiplin do not spare us anything. All the gruesome details, the bodies of the prisoners piled up like a surrealist giallo, or an artistic French extremity piece. To see that level of depraved violence in a TV series is a visceral, painful experience, but necessary to flesh out the horrors and ugliness of war, but also the sadistic brutality of the human spirit in the face of vulnerability and helplessness.
Most of the credit will be given to Elordi for his performance as Dorrigo, a tormented and complex character ravaged by the demons of war and forbidden love. However, the real star of the series is Young. In every film or TV series she’s been in, Young has consistently held her own against whichever actor she shares the screen with. She has appeared alongside Elisabeth Moss, Josh O’Connor, Geoffrey Rush, Jesse Eisenberg, and more, and in every film and every performance, she’s proven that she’s a firecracker of an actress, her spark preceding her every step along the way. Here she eats the role, cuts through it with sharp teeth, going through a myriad of emotions in one scene, and everyone around her pales in comparison.
The supporting cast also shines even brighter than many leading ones, Thomas Weatherall and David Howell especially come to mind. Shô Kasamatsu is back to his dark, grey roles as the morally conflicted Major Nakamura, a role that may not showcase his multifaceted talents as his enigmatic Sato in HBO’s Toyko Vice, but he still holds up so well in front of Elordi.
Credit: Ingvar Kenne/Curio/Sony Pictures Television - The Narrow Road to the Deep North is dark, gruesome, and miserable. It takes no hostages, leaves the war as an ugly, rotting wound on a soldier’s leg. It exposes the flesh and strips the bones bare of any complimentary tales about sacrifice and machismo. The result is a sad meditation on prejudice and the resilience of the human spirit despite the suffering, but it leaves a metallic aftertaste in the mouth, not palatable and reassuring like other war miniseries weave with their tales of heroism.
So yes, Dorrigo survives the war, and the biggest heartbreak of his life. But does that mean he is free?
The Narrow Road to the Deep North is currently available to stream on Prime Video.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North is dark, gruesome, and miserable. It takes no hostages, leaves the war as an ugly, rotting wound on a soldier’s leg. It exposes the flesh and strips the bones bare of any complimentary tales about sacrifice and machismo. The result is a sad meditation on prejudice and the resilience of the human spirit despite the suffering, but it leaves a metallic aftertaste in the mouth, not palatable and reassuring like other war miniseries weave with their tales of heroism.
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Jaylan Salah Salman is an Egyptian poet, translator, and film critic for InSession Film, Geek Vibes Nation, and Moviejawn. She has published two poetry collections and translated fourteen books for International Languages House publishing company. She began her first web series on YouTube, “The JayDays,” where she comments on films and other daily life antics. On her free days, she searches for recipes to cook while reviewing movies.
