‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ Review: Chiwetel Ejiofor Infuses Showtime Adaptation With New Ideas

thewrap.com:

stays thirsty.Justin Falls (Harris) is called to retrieve him because hers is the only name he knows. Having no idea who he is, she looks at him and leaves him at the precinct.

The pair won’t meet again until Falls sees him on the road being mugged and intervenes.He almost shoots her by mistake.Alternately misunderstanding while being misunderstood defines the nature of the pair’s relationship throughout the show as they stumble along on a journey to save their respective planets.Harris flexes in her role as Justin Falls.

A mom, caregiver, and former nuclear fusion scientist, she’s caught in the web of healthcare sanctioned poverty. Forced to pay a drug dealer to get her father’s pain medication, she’s cleaning up biowaste to make ends meet when Faraday appears like an awkward miracle, money in hand in need of her help.Masterfully, Ejiofor flips the “alien trying to be human” trope on its head.

Instead, he instills Faraday with a sense of agency. He’s a whole being when he arrives. Faraday is an immigrant of sorts, taking on a local name and trying his best to understand Earth’s languages and cultures to send help back to his family.One of the most beautiful scenes in the series so far is when Faraday listens to a “song message” through the same type of instrument that Bowie used in Roeg’s film.