Magnus McFaulds
Lantern Staff
Turn Up Charlie is Netflix’s new show about a DJ that has passed his peak but is still trying to make music. On Friday, March 15, Idris Elba appeared as Charlie, an older DJ who once was a big name in the industry, but after a few big hits fell out of the limelight.
Living with his aunt in London, he is a fall off DJ working small time gigs at parties and weddings to pay what he can for rent. An old high school friend, David (JJ Feild), who had moved to Los Angeles and made it big in the movie industry, decides to move back to London with his wife, Sara (Piper Perabo) and daughter Gabrielle (Frankie Hervey) to give his daughter a good British childhood. After Charlie and David meet again and reconnect, Charlie finds out that Gabrielle drives all her babysitters away; however, Charlie sees this as a possible way to get back in the industry as Sara is a big name DJ. Through each episode, the relationship between Charlie and Gabrielle grows, giving him time to sit in the booth and produce a new song.
Charlie breaks in to several relationships throughout the show and with this, some grow strong and others begin to fall apart. It focuses primarily on relationships, although the show focuses on Charlie and his struggle to try and make a new song while also looking after his friend’s daughter. The focus on all the different relationships that have been built and broken down, it detracts from the show significantly. By the final two episodes, the viewer cares less about what is happening with Charlie’s career and more about how the maze of relationships is going to end, even leaving some open ended.
Using an actor such as Idris Elba was a bold move as he is older and often it feels like he is an old man trying to play a young person, but manages to make the viewer forget that and is possibly the perfect person for the role. The show was not perfect by any means, but the merge of someone who is living from day to day and someone who has no reason to worry about money is done wonderfully, and overall it is a solid show.
I personally loved seeing a side of England and the culture that is skipped over in many TV shows and films, the experience of a festival, school not being this perfect preppy place, Ibiza, a place that every young British person has experienced. I give the show a 7.5/10 overall for content and quality, but for its inclusion the real non-Hollywood side of British life I give it an 8.2/10.