In the wake of #MeToo, consent became an important topic of discussion, but no one tackled the subject with quite as much complexity as "I May Destroy You." The HBO series begins with a horrific rape that was loosely based on creator, writer, and star Michaela Coel's own sexual assault. The show follows Coel's character, Arabella, as she attempts to take back her own life in the wake of the assault, but it also focuses on a variety of other sexual encounters that fall into a moral gray area. These are more than "bad hookups"; they are painful, confusing, traumatic interactions that are difficult to process, and even more difficult to define. The insightful six-episode series shows how Arabella and her two friends, Kwame (Paapa Essiedu) and Terry (Weruche Opia), who are Black, queer, and of immigrant descent, attempt to deal with the trauma of these experiences. What "I May Destroy You" shows is just how often the lines of consent are blurred.
