November 11, 2024

JOAN (2024) – Sophie Turner sparkles as jewellery thief

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

This TV series is a great showcase for Sophie Turner as she takes on the role of the title character here, Joan has a familiar background in TV land. A woman who escapes form her abusing and loser husband and struggling to survive with her young daughter in the 1980’s London. She is forced to turn to social services for help in getting her daughter to live with a foster family temporarily until she able to settle down with a secure job and place to stay. Unfortunately, she is unable to stick to any job for long as she get distracted with thoughts how to fast track to getting rich. She meets up with a master grifter Boise (played by Frank Dillian) and together they flourish in their criminal endeavors targeting jewelries and antiques.

The series is supposed to be based on a real-life character and adapted from the 2002 memoir written by Joan herself titled I Am What I Am: The True Story of Britain’s Most Notorious Jewel Thief. However, the six episodes series play like fiction as the characters and many of the situations feel rather melodramatic to be real. It even ends leaving room for the series to continue into a follow-up season! Perhaps this made the series more compelling to watch. It helps that Sophie Turner has such a strong presence, and her performance is the main draw of the series for me. Many of us would remember Sophie fondly as the long-suffering Sansa Stark in the Game of Thrones. She was sensational in Game of Thrones and it is great to see her take on a leading character role this time. She is in almost every scene in the series which make this truly a Sophie Turner exclusive.

Her supporting actor, British actor Frank Dillane is a familiar face having appeared in TV Series like Fear the Walking Dead and The Essex Serpent, as well as Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Here he takes on a more matured role and he complements Sophie Turner very well in a convincing nuanced performance as a smooth talking, fraudster.

Joan may come across as undecorated and even unambitious. But it is precisely this approach which makes its a compelling watch as it is not afraid and smart enough to just let the strong story and performances do the talking. It may not convince me that this is a true story, but it satisfies me as an engrossing binge watch.

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