Robyn Malcolm gives an astonishing performance as Penny in After The Party.
Malcolm – who co-created the series with NZ screenwriter Dianne Taylor – plays high-school biology teacher Penny Wilding. The series opens with her dealing with a student caught watching pornography on his phone. Rather than merely castigating him,she tells a classroom full of boys that watching too much porn could lead to disappointment and feelings of inadequacy. “You should be thanking me for saving your sex lives,” she tells them.
Immediately a compelling character,she becomes ever more complex as the six-part series progresses,beginning with the moment she learns that her ex-husband Phil (Peter Mullan),who has been living in Scotland for the past five years,has returned to their tight-knit Wellington suburb,and is moving in with their 20-year-old daughter Grace (Tara Canton) and their toddler grandson.
His departure followed a contentious incident at a party at Phil and Penny’s house that tore the family,and much of their friendship circle apart,when Penny publicly accused Phil of sexually abusing one of Grace’s drunk teenage school friends.
Peter Mullan is Phil,who returns to Wellington five year after his marriage imploded.
Phil was never charged,though,and now that he’s back,many of their mutual friends,and particularly Grace,want Penny to move on. But she can’t;she’s haunted by what she saw that night – we see her return to that night frequently in flashback – and when Phil,also a teacher,starts working at a local school and,like Penny,coaching a teenage basketball team,she feels compelled to prove his guilt.
As her anger at Phil’s return,and the way in which he has easily slipped back into their community rises,her obsession begins to overshadow all else,andAfter The Party becomes increasingly tense.