Dying for Sex
Based on the podcast series of the same name Dying for Sex tells the story of Molly a woman diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer who leaves her 15-year marriage in order to explore herself and her sexuality before her death. Molly in the series is played by Emmy winner Michelle Williams, her best friend and carer Nikki is played by Jenny Slate and the two lead this comedic drama so comfortably so I would've totally been convinced the two had worked together before or even knew each other for decades prior to this production.
Over the course of an eight episode season all with episodes lasting about 30 minutes a piece, we experience the highs and lows of Molly's diagnosis, her sexual exploration and how these major features of her life affect Molly as well as those in her immediate life whether they be her unnamed neighbour (Rob Delaney), mother (Sissy Spacek) or ex-husband (Jay Duplass).
Truly the impact of this series starts and ends with Michelle Williams who six years after her last significant television production with her Emmy award winning performance on Fosse/Verdon (a win I wholeheartedly agreed with) delivers another compelling turn. As Molly she is captivating both comedically and dramatically nailing each turn on a dime emotion she is tasked to play. Her commitment to the part makes for one of the more indelible portraits of a female character I have seen in some time. Williams throughout her career has mostly played characters dealing with major tragedies so it is a treat to witness her here deal with tragedy but also showcase her mostly unutilized ability for comedy. I'm thinking specifically of moments where Molly must ramble through lengthy conversational scenes opposite her friend Nikki where I sense the joy Williams is taking in the series dialogue.
Jenny Slate provides great support for Williams Molly warmly playing her devoted friend Nikki. As I mentioned above the two actresses have such a natural chemistry opposite one another I'd gladly have the two make future projects together based on how wonderful they are jointly. Slate is an actor I've enjoyed in many films and series so seeing her here is thrilling as she rises to every challenge at playing Nikki creating space for her scenes outside of those opposite Molly making for an equally as compelling character throughout the entire series.
In smaller parts but just as important to the series are the likes of Rob Delaney who while playing an unnamed character is another wonderful on screen partner for Williams. His mystic expands the universe of the series from the very beginning. Sissy Spacek the great acting legend in two episodes brilliantly plays Molly's mother whose appearance reveals some darker themes the series thankfully covers through conversation rather than blantently showing it in detail. Spacek of course makes her work memorable and I found it so thrilling to witness her a part of a great production again showing that over a century into her acting career she is just as compelling as she was in her 1972 film debut in Prime Cut.
The writing team lead by creator Elizabeth Meriwether are just as important to the success of this series. No time of the perfectly times episodes are wasted and successfully adapting a podcast to a visual series is no easy task yet the artistry on this display here shows that adapting mostly spoken podcast narratives into visual storytelling is easily doable. Shannon Murphy (fantastic director of Babyteeth (2019)) directs the majority of the series and providing the space for the writing and performers to flourish.
Ultimately this is an impressive series that is so trouble-free to digest you owe yourself the experience of this brilliant limited series that I confident you won't want to stop once you start watching episode 1 through 8.
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