I May Destroy You is Black, British, and reflective of Coel’s upbringing by Ghanaian parents in the U.K. It’s a Black experience, but not the one Americans are accustomed to.
And so are her friends who round out the core cast: girl bestie Terry (Weruche Opia), an aspiring actress with stage fright, and their boy bestie Kwame (Paapa Essiedu), an openly gay fitness instructor with either sex addiction or commitment issues (maybe both?). Arabella is tragically human in her desire to be loved, to be heard, and to be seen. There’s Arabella (Coel), a pink-haired, influencer-turned-author, who is vulnerable and insecure, but also righteous and adventurous and opinionated and gracious.
The childhood friends exist in a world where hook-up threesomes, cocaine, and urinating with the door open are both routine and mundane. I May Destroy You follows a trio of twenty-something friends as they navigate sex and trauma, but also love, morality, consent, self-care, loyalty, forgiveness, self-esteem, social media, fame, and insecurity too. She utilized her horrifying experience as the inspiration for her latest series, which explores sexual assault-including the definitions (yes, plural) of rape-and so much more. Michaela Coel as “Arabella” (left) and Weruche Opia as “Terry” in I May Destroy YouĬoel had a flashback and later discovered she had been physically violated by strangers.