Now that Irish multi-hyphenate (writer-actor-comedian) Sharon Horgan’s most recent shows have aired on big American streamers like Apple TV and HBO Max, is it time to concede that she has transcended her origins on BBC Three and Channel 4 and “gone Hollywood”? You can hardly blame her. Horgan – now 56 – is back with a new show, Youth, a side-eyed look at ageing and finally getting your flowers later in life.
Alex (Sharon Horgan) is a divorced literary agent in her mid-fifties. With her teenage son Ruari (Aran Murphy) about to leave for university, she feels life restarting. “Do you think you can still be sexy when you’re 60?” she asks the universe, pinching her belly fat. A roster of men line up to test that thesis. There’s Michael (Tim McInerney), perfect except that he’s almost 70; Lars (Steve Windolf), a suave German from the publishing industry; and, above all, Patrick (Rupert Friend), a “drunk, institutionally single, 47-year-old manchild”, who also happens to be exceedingly charming. But when Ruari bails out of university, and with work pressures mounting, Alex’s attempt to jump back into the dating pool finds her floundering in the deep end.
