Adolescence writer Jack Thorne’s new religious drama Falling receives mixed reviews – but Keeley Hawes stands out with tender performance of a nun in love

Falling, the new religious romantic drama from coming-of-age author Jack Thorne, has received mixed reviews from critics.

Channel 4’s six-part series aired on Tuesday night to great fanfare, thanks to a stellar cast and a writer whose Netflix drama Adolescence has swept the charts during awards season.

The series was criticized by some, receiving a two star review for its slow pacing and ‘forced’ romance; however, Keeley Hawes was praised for her sensitive performance, and other reviews gave it four stars.

The show revolves around a devoted nun (Keeley) and a priest (Paapa Essiedu) who fall in love.

Early reviews are in and some critics are less than impressed with the author’s first attempt at a love story after Jack moves away from his usual ‘gritty social realism’.

The Guardian reviewer Lucy Mangan gave it two stars and called it a ‘terrible mess’ with ‘weird’ dialogue.

He wrote: ‘The story of a nun and a priest’s forbidden love has a star-studded cast, but it’s awkward from the start – largely because Paapa Essiedu and Keeley Hawes don’t talk or act like grown people.

Thorne, who has of course made his name with heavy, state-of-the-nation works like his ‘This Is England trilogy’ and dramas dealing with such meaty subjects as disability rights, the epidemic and (more recently, in the much-celebrated Adolescence) misogyny and the manosphere, is unsure of his emotional footing or the lives of religious devotees, but rarely does a moment of their relationship ring true.

‘Sometimes the derivative nature of what we watch alienates us. Anna and David’s first touch occurs when he burns himself while cooking for her, and Anna helps him hold her hand under the tap. Apparently that’s enough for him to leave the convent, get on the bus to church, and confess his love for her.’

But, Times gave it a glowing five-star review.

Critic Ben Dowell called it ‘charming’ and ‘mature’ and said Keeley was ‘outstanding’.

He wrote: ‘Thorne’s writing is inadequate and his confidence in his actors is more than justified; Hawes and Essiedu constantly shed layers of their characters’ skin.

‘Over the course of the series, both characters develop inner strength through tremendous challenges; Their story turns into a suspenseful but ultimately frenzied battle, essentially a struggle between divine and romantic love, as well as tension between two kinds of decline.

‘There are the Biblical narratives, of course, but there are also the wonderfully heady emotions that grip anyone who is helplessly and completely in love. Fascinating. Thorne has done it again.’

The series centers around a devoted nun (Keeley) and a priest (Paapa Essiedu) who fall in love with each other.

Radio Times awarded it four stars, praising it as a ‘witty, touching and contemporary’ look at faith and forbidden love.

When Keeley, 50, discovered the series was being written by Adolescence writer Jack, she said it was a “no-brainer” to sign on, even before reading the script.

he said grazia: ‘This was a very simple thing before I read the script.

‘Amazingly for someone so prolific, he had never written a love story before. I thought the story was absolutely beautiful.’

Filming a show entirely in a bathrobe was also a “liberating” experience, she said.

The actress admitted: ‘It felt a bit like a costume drama, we were partially wearing bathrobes.

‘They were actually very free. It’s quite nice to forget all about vanity. There’s no pretension in it [Sister] Anna.’