A philosopher begins teaching a class of men in prison. Each week, Dan leads discussions about dominance, freedom, luck and other topics that have troubled philosophers for thousands of years – topics that gain a new meaning when seen through the prisoners' eyes - both igniting passions and creating tension.
At certain points, Waiting for the Out could lapse into patronising cliches. Thankfully, it sidesteps them. Is Dan being taught valuable life lessons by these rough diamonds?In doing so, they admit the capacity for change. Are we simply helpless victims (or indeed, lucky beneficiaries) of the circumstances we inherit? With a mixture of exquisite lightness and overwhelming heaviness, Waiting for the Out suggests that it’s never too late.
Finan in 'Waiting for the Out' (BBC Studios/Sister Pictures). All the same, in its slowest, most conversational moments, Kelly’s sensitive adaptation of West’s book achieves a bleak poignancy. It stares, dead on, at the fraught question of patrimony, the troubled reality of modern masculinity.The show exists at the tender intersection of these two propositions: a study on self-reflection, realisation and forgiveness.
