When the body of a local boy is found off of a cliff in the seaside town of Dorset, it rocks the close-knit community when it’s revealed that he was murdered.
When the body of a local boy is found off of a cliff in the seaside town of Dorset, it rocks the close-knit community when it’s revealed that he was murdered. The police investigation and media attention transforms the townspeople, drawing out their secrets and long-held beliefs. While the revelation of the murderer is a shock (especially since that person has a close relationship with a prominent citizen), it’s the nuanced examination of how such relationships are built and inevitably break down that keeps the show disturbing throughout. David Tennant and Olivia Colman deliver intensely contained performances as the investigating detectives, helping make “Broadchurch” one of the finest British inheritors of the “Twin Peaks” formula of small-town crime that exposes the underbelly of the town itself. — HN