I May Destroy You
This program is presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series A Place of Rage: Women and Anger on Screen. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.
In-person: Professor Kathleen McHugh, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, will give a brief talk before the screening. Q&A to follow screening.
Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You is a radical, genre-defying exploration of trauma, consent and creative survival in the post-#MeToo era. Professor Kathleen McHugh’s latest research on women and anger explores the topic through the series, which, McHugh argues, channels Coel’s anger as both trauma response and creative force. The result: a bold, complex portrait of survival, consent and artistic self-possession.
Inspired by Coel’s own experience of assault, the series follows Arabella, a rising writer whose rape during a night out shatters her sense of reality. In Episode 1, Arabella vanishes into the night, only to wake with no memory and a wound on her forehead. Episode 9 explores how her growing online presence alienates those closest to her. The finale imagines alternate confrontations with her rapist before Arabella ultimately reclaims her narrative. Formally daring and emotionally fearless, Coel’s series resists tidy resolutions, instead offering a bold meditation on self-preservation and the messy, nonlinear work of healing.
Episode 1: “Eyes Eyes Eyes Eyes”
Digital video, color, 30 min. Max. Director: Sam Miller. Screenwriters: Michaela Coel, Sherie Myers, Stephanie Yamson. With: Michaela Coel, Weruche Opia, Paapa Essiedu, Marouane Zotti, Stephen Wight.
Episode 9: “Social Media Is a Great Way to Connect”
Digital video, color, 32 min. Max. Director: Sam Miller. Screenwriters: Michaela Coel, Sherie Myers, Stephanie Yamson. With: Michaela Coel, Weruche Opia, Paapa Essiedu, Stephen Wight.
Episode 12: “Ego Death”
Digital video, color, 34 min. Max. Directors: Michaela Coel, Sam Miller. Screenwriters: Michaela Coel, Sherie Myers, Stephanie Yamson. With: Michaela Coel, Weruche Opia, Paapa Essiedu, Lewis Reeves.
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a division of UCLA Library, and presents its public programs in the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer, among other venues. For more information about the Archive, visit cinema.ucla.edu.
ATTENDING THIS PROGRAM?
Ticketing: Admission to Archive screenings at the Hammer is free. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis, limit one per visitor. Box office opens one hour before the event. Questions should be directed to the Archive at programming@cinema.ucla.edu or 310-206-8013.
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