Can you hear me now?

Leah could be described as an almost stereotypical mad-scientist-in-the-basement type, but for one detail: she’s a woman. A woman who has been conducting experiments for some considerable time, without success.

Anne Hathaway gives a larger-than-life performance that is unpeeled layer by layer as we learn what motivates her character and the depth of her guilt, despair, and ultimately hope, as exemplified by the three versions of Leah that we meet within different time windows.

As Leah (pronounced ‘Leia’ like the princess, I wonder if that’s by choice) slings her washing haphazardly in the timed dryer and takes a call from her sister and invalid mother one wonders what is driving her. Her mother clearly needs a lot of care and attention, which is a cause of friction between Leah and her sister, but it’s also clear how much Leah loves her mother. Also, why on earth does it keep cutting to the dryer every so often? Watch out for the reason why, it’s a gut punch.

Leah is trying to master time travel and speak to her future self. When she appears to fail, contacting a ‘past’ Leah, cue an interesting debate on female characters and the portrayal of time travel. There are some examples but it’s not typically as a result of the brainpower of the female time traveling character. ‘What about Doctor Who?’ I hear you cry. Only after 54 years.

When I’m struggling to decide where this is going and beginning to think that it may just be an artful way of pointing out the gender inequality in many genre stories, the heartstrings are pulled: we can’t lie to ourselves forever, especially not when we are literally talking to ourselves. Our first Leah is shown two paths and has to answer a fundamental and powerful question about the deepest of love and the sacrifices we will make for it. I only wish I could be as brave.

Verdict: A strong start for Amazon’s star-studded series on the human condition. 8/10

Claire Smith

 

Solos is streaming on Amazon Prime Video now