HBO‘s new limited series “Get Millie Black” brings a raw and authentic take on Jamaica, far removed from the idyllic beaches often seen on screen. Booker Prize-winning novelist Marlon James created this five-part series, which is part detective thriller, part socio-economic and cultural rummage through Kingston.
The story centers on Millie Black, a Scotland Yard detective who returns to Kingston after 18 years. Believing her brother Orville is dead, Millie is shocked to discover that he has become Hibiscus, a transgender sex worker living in the city’s dangerous “Gully.” Their complicated sibling relationship, threaded throughout the series with themes of survival, identity, and resilience, catalyzed my desire to dive deeper into it.
Millie and her boyfriend, Curtis, probe into the disappearance of a teenage girl, Janet, who is involved with Kingston’s élite. In this scenario, a tangled web of corruption spanning from Jamaica to London is unraveled by the case, highlighting the island’s entrenched racial and class disparities. The Scotland Yard’s Luke Holborn adds some tension to the mix, with his agenda of using the investigation to climb the career ladder.
James crafts a nuanced portrayal of the grit and vibrancy of Jamaica while dispelling clichés by embracing realism. The dialogue flows in Jamaican patois, and with the narrative gravitating deep within the psyche of the characters, each episode features a different narrator. This tactic infuses depth into the plot, revealing mysterious motives and emotional undertones.
In Millie, Tamara Lawrance’s performance brings to the character drive and emotional turmoil. The complex persona of Hibiscus in search of freedom in a homophobic society is well brought to the big screen by Chyna McQueen. Shernet Swearine evokes feeling with her transformation into Janet.
Get Millie Black transcends the usual police fiction stuff in a riveting story filled with strong performances and unrelenting realism. It’s proof that James can do just that: balance suspense with poignant storytelling.
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