Jacob Elordi grips you tightly with his delicate, poignant portrayal of a Thai-Burmese prisoner of war in this limited series from director Justin Kurzel. The Narrow Road To The Deep North, based on a novel by Richard Flanagan – based on Flanagan’s father’s lived experience being captured and turned into a forced laborer by the Japanese, tells a searing story across three timelines of an army surgeon’s tortuous time as a POW, the torrid affair from his before life that both haunts yet comforts him and the painful memories that linger in the present time. THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? Opening Shot: Syria, 1941. Australian soldiers infiltrate a building in the pitch black of night, bombs exploding in the background, and Dorrigo Evans comforts a young boy found still alive surrounded by dead bodies. The Gist: Dorrigo Evans (Elordi) is a medical officer currently stationed in the Middle East. The soldiers make light of their bleak, colorless environment by taking bets on when each other will die and having Guy ‘Rabbit’ Hendricks draw portraits of their ladies left at home– albeit with bigger breasts. Dorrigo sends comrade Yabby Burrows to retrieve the young boy from the beginning, playing a few yards away, but Burrows steps on a landmine and both he and the child are brutally killed. 12 months later, Amy Mulvaney (Odessa Young) reads in the newspaper of the Commonwealth surrender. She calls a young woman named Ella (Olivia DeJonge) to ask if there’s news about Dorrigo, though Ella hasn’t heard from him in weeks. Now in Australia in 1989, an older Dorrigo (Ciarán Hinds) arrives with now revealed wife Ella (Heather Mitchell) for an interview promoting his new book and talks of the humiliation going from a soldier to a prisoner of war, knowing others were fighting while he was incarcerated and cites luck as the thing that got him through. After speaking on the “strange, terrible neverendingness of human beings” and how their enemies were more monsters than men, the interviewer challenges Dorrigo, mentioning the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He angrily rebuttals how no one can truly understand war without having lived it. Flashing back to Australia in 1940, Dorrigo meets Ella’s parents for the first time. Concerned about his eventual leave for battle, Ella pushes Dorrigo to propose, which he reluctantly does. Arriving at a bar to visit his uncle, though he’s nowhere to be found, Dorrigo meets Amy– Uncle Keith’s “far too young wife.” The pair meet again at a poetry reading the next day, sharing a very flirtatious encounter. After reading her an excerpt from his favorite poet Catullus, Amy picks up a book to share her favorite poem. She opens it to flash a practically empty page except for the simple words, “You burn me,” before leaving him the flower in her hair for good luck– a flower 1989 Dorrigo still keeps close. Thailand, 1943. Dorrigo is packed shoulder to shoulder with other half naked men in a train car. Now a prisoner of war. As it begins to rain, the dehydrated soldiers exclaim loudly before clambering to their feet, attempting to catch droplets in their mouths. The men are unloaded by Japanese forces and roughly marched through the jungle, carrying their wounded comrades. Major Nakaruma (Show Kasamatsu) informs the prisoners of their new, honorable mission– to serve the Japanese emperor and reverse the “shame” of their prisoner status by building a railway. (The Burma Death Railway completed by thousands of forced laborers) The men begin the backbreaking, grueling work of clearing through the dense vegetation of the jungle. In a final blast to the past for the first episode, Dorrigo finally visits Uncle Keith (Simon Baker) and is left in the hands of Amy. The pair go to a fancy dinner, share a slow dance, many drinks and a long, sensual embrace before parting ways for the night. What Shows Will It Remind You Of: With the true story of The Burma Death Railway being central to the plot here, we’re reminded of the airmen of the 100th Bomb Group during WWII in Masters of the Air. Our Take: This is Elordi’s first TV role since Euphoria, also the first where he gets to be an actual Australian, and the gentle manner he depicts Dorrigo Evans is a far cry from the monster we know Nate Jacobs can be. Not to be the millionth and one person to bring his stature into it, but all 6 ‘5 of the 27-year-old actor never overpowers a scene. He plays the poetry loving, soft spoken medical student gracefully before beginning to gently transition into a man stricken by the cruelty of war. While episode 1 just touches on the beginning of what is to be endured in the prisoner camp, these first 45 minutes of the series are indicative of the complex, harrowing justice Elordi will bring to a story of history, survival and memory. The tension between Amy and Ella in their less than 30 second call in the beginning of episode 1 is stifling and the unsaid words within their expressions on opposite ends of the phone leave you impatient to begin uncovering these women’s complex relationships with one another– and with Dorrigo. Both characters establish themselves as driven, though driven by what we’ll find out. Stellar performances by all of the cast propel audiences to partake in a story not only on endurance in the face of brutality, but the intricacies of navigating love, loss and identity. Sex and Skin: Some near nude soldiers, though it’s not at all sexy, and one intimate scene between Dorrigo and Ella with Elordi’s full, sweaty backside on display. Parting Shot: 1989 Dorrigo sits at his desk, meant to be writing a speech for his book launch, but instead writes, “You burn me,” on a notepad over, and over again. Sleeper Star: Jacob Elordi’s cigarette. If there’s one thing Jacob Elordi is gonna do, it’s smoke the hell out of a prop cigarette. Just jokes. Odessa Young’s portrayal of Amy so far is perfectly poised yet coy– nimbly toeing the line between being ever so coquettish without being outright seductive. Young holds her own neatly in scenes with the mighty Elordi (both in size and stardom) alluring the audience the same as Dorrigo as the mystical, short-lived lover of a past life that can never be brought back. Amy is self-assured that she’s not a gold digger, and holds knowledge and dignity that is undeterred by the snide comments of others about her age and maturity. Unpacking her character’s intentions and desires across the rest of the four episodes will be a treat to see how Young paints her. Most Pilot-y Line: During 1989 Dorrigo’s promotional interview gone south, he grows heated at the notion that anyone could understand war without having experienced it first-hand, and the following exchange occurs: “It’s not that you know nothing about war. It is that you know one thing– war is many things.” “Well, what are those things.” “You don’t want to fucking know.” Our Call: STREAM IT. The Narrow Road To The Deep North is a gritty, powerful watch with striking imagery and riveting performances that sometimes read as subtle in all the best ways. Claire Waheed is a recently graduated freelance writer currently based in Texas. She loves all things pop culture and new adventures.