Can Say Nothing possibly improve on Patrick Radden Keefe’s book?

The crime
The abduction of 38-year-old mother of ten Jean McConville from her Belfast home in December of 1972 – as well as the myriad bombings, beatings, bank robberies, and other often-lethal felonies committed on both sides of the Troubles. 

The story
I noted in my 2019 review of Patrick Radden Keefe’s outstanding Say Nothing that it’s the sort of story that might present at first

like homework: the black jacket, the decades of history many readers will have zero grounding in. It isn’t; it’s outstanding writing, and I hate the word “immersive” but sometimes I gots no choice.

I can say the same about FX/Hulu’s nine-episode adaptation of Keefe’s book, which premiered on Hulu today with all episodes available now. Nine episodes might seem like too many; the complex sociopolitical landscape and ambiguous heroes Say Nothing centers might seem like too heavy a lift; too many things could seem bound to go wrong with a story that’s moving around in time, with different sets of actors and an oral-history framing device.

It isn’t, and they don’t; like the book, the scripted iteration of Say Nothing is well-written and assured, and takes you into a wide-ranging history via individual stories whose specifics keep the larger landscape manageable. It’s well-edited, too, and can sense when it’s spent enough time in one timeline and needs to move to another, or when it should cut more quickly between a confusing sequence in the past and its narrators in the present.

It’s illuminating, and sometimes stylish, as when a foot chase in the second episode switches from the breathless flight of Brendan Hughes (Anthony Boyle) on the ground to an aerial shot of Hughes pinging through alleys and doorways, accompanied by a bleep-y soundtrack cue reminiscent of Frogger. So, it’s not afraid to be funny, either (later in the same sequence, a cut and bleeding Hughes groans to the man whose home he’s crashed into, “Ring the mortuary.” The mortuary is the hiding-in-plain-sight HQ where the notorious Gerry Adams (Josh Finan) has posted up, but the civilian doesn’t know that, and scoffs, “Ah, don’t be such a pessimist.”)

Anthony Boyle as Brendan Hughes, finally in a docudrama worth his acting salt. (Hulu / Rob Youngson)

I’ve only seen the first two episodes, but I can’t wait to keep going – Say Nothing is immensely watchable, with rounded performances from Boyle (I liked him in Manhunt, but didn’t like Manhunt itself) and Lola Pettigrew and Maxine Peake as Dolours Price, younger and older. Pettigrew in particular has a Jessica Chastain energy that’s just right for the role, and makes her attraction to this folk-heroic life of crime relatable without excusing her darker deeds.

Say Nothing overall is wise about that aspect of its true story, understanding that wartime sacrifices aren’t limited to life and limb, but might also include righteousness and trust. The current political situation in the U.S. adds another provocative dimension to the viewing experience, or it does for me, as the Price sisters and others reflect on and revise their boundaries of decency and resistance over time. So, not fluffy escapist fare in these unsettled times – and some reviewers actually feel that it’s too short, doesn’t push hard enough on the reckoning with McConville’s death. I can’t say if that’s true, but I can say I’ll watch to the end to see, and if your post-election viewing regimen allows it, I’d recommend you do the same.

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