Such diabolical cunning to release this Pennsylvania-set thriller, which stars Andrew Scott, a week after the last episode of Fleabag. We’re missing Scott, aka the Hot Priest. How soothing to see his gorgeously crumpled face once more.
Admittedly the storyline is a tad hard to swallow. Donnie Devlin (Scott), is a small-town misfit, possibly suffering from autism and OCD, determined to investigate the suspicious death of a youngster despite being told to “leave it alone”.
Even when he gets physically attacked, Donnie just won’t quit. Meanwhile, the dialogue is overwrought and the town’s secrets predictable.
Just concentrate on Scott’s limbs though, and all is well. He never plays Donnie as a quirky, “simple” saint, instead mingling gaucheness with cold incomprehension, frustration and petulance.
As Donnie experiences a rare moment of self-awareness he irritably snaps his fingers to signify the cruel chatter of gossips. It’s priceless. As is the way he makes googly eyes at the fiercely unfriendly Linda (Denise Gough), grins at his adorably unselfconscious daughter (Christa Beth Campbell) or tries to make sense of earthy colleague Donna (Bronagh Waugh).
The cinematography, from Michael Winterbottom’s ace collaborator Marcel Zyskind, is polished (swollen rivers, galumphing flies, lank hair: much about the landscape is intriguing). I confess though, it’s the chemistry between Scott and his female co-stars that makes Steel Country worth a look.
