AMC Plus series This Is Going To Hurt is listed as a comedy-drama. While it’s got funny parts, the British offering leans much more toward drama. Ben Whishaw plays an obstetrician. The show offers a peek at just how stressful life is for a baby doctor in a busy hospital that lacks resources. Whishaw’s Adam is young enough so that he puts in endless hours, but senior enough in that he has some serious management responsibilities.
Scruffy and bumbling, Adam hardly looks the part. “Are you really a doctor?” asks a woman he finds outside the hospital, who is mere minutes from giving birth. Those instances are daily occurrences at his hospital.
This Is Going to Hurt is not for the squeamish. It pulls zero punches in offering viewers a front-row seat for various procedures full of blood, guts and other human matter. A herky-jerky camera follows Adam’s every step, including his many trips to the locker room to strip off another gory set of scrubs.
Adam mostly holds it together, trying to do right by his patients and chastising those who are out of line. The heart of the show is depicted when he mentors an overlooked female obstetrician, and is alternately dismissive and caring toward the nervous young doc.
When his shift ends, Adam sleeps wherever his head falls, be it his car or in a bar with his friends.
A fun, animated performance by Whishaw makes for a convincing, moving medical drama.
This Is Going To Hurt is available starting June 2 on AMC Plus and Sundance Now. ▪️
