By virtue of being a story of the Holocaust, the eight-part drama We Were the Lucky Ones, is a harrowing one. To watch it at a time when antisemitism is on the rise and some of our own most racist public figures are returning to the political stage only gives it extra emotional torque. Whether even that is enough to disguise the screeching mechanics of the plot or slide you past some poor dialogue to a truly earned emotional conclusion is the question running alongside the story at all times.
Based on Georgia Hunter’s 2017 novel of the same name, itself based on the experiences of her Jewish family, the series follows the parents and five children that comprise the Kurc family in Radom, Poland, over a decade. It begins with a family celebration of Passover – unknowingly for the last time – in 1937. Son Addy (Logan Lerman) has travelled from Paris where he is enjoying some success as a composer, so it is a double celebration.
