Spent: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Michelle de Swarte is a powerhouse as a model down on her luck but far from down and out
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Michelle de Swarte stars as Mia, a model who, at the grand old age (in model years) of 38 has spent all her money and flees America for her childhood home of Brixton. There she puts on a show, incapable of admitting to anyone she knows how bad things really are.
De Swarte, a former model who honed her acting career in stand-up and other people's shows, including Katherine Ryan's The Duchess (Netflix) and Sky's The Baby, also wrote this six-parter, which is loosely based on her own experiences .
She is effortlessly great in the role, whether her character is on her way up (schmoozing at a Soho fashion party) or down (having a snooze in a stranger's car). The laughs aren't shallow and they dip in and out of the less savoury aspects of modelling, but not in a way that feels preachy, and the show is never anything but lively, hilarious and occasionally crude.
Virtually every female-led comedy since 2019 has been touted as the new Fleabag. We're not going to compare the two shows, other than to say that if Spent doesn't receive the same level of acclaim, there's something seriously amiss. (Six episodes)
