Dark Money (TV series)

Dark Money
Official Poster
Genre	Drama
Written by	Levi David Addai
Directed by	Lewis Arnold
Starring	Babou Ceesay Jill Halfpenny Rudi Dharmalingam Max Fincham
Composer	Sarah Warne
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	4 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Levi David Addai George Faber Mark Pybus Lucy Richer
Producer	Erika Hossington
Production location	United Kingdom
Cinematography	Mark Wolf
Production companies	The Forge Entertainment BBC
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	8 July (2019-07-08) – 16 July 2019 (2019-07-16)

Dark Money (stylized Dark Mon£y) is a 2019 British drama miniseries written by Levi David Addai. The drama deals with the sexual abuse of a minor by a film producer, and the challenges his family faces thereafter when they receive hush money to keep silent. The series was screened in the United States in 2020 by BET+. In 2023, the series was adapted into the Indian Hindi-language series Kafas.

Plot

The family of a sexually abused child accepts hush money from a famous filmmaker to remain silent.

Production

Screenwriter Levi David Addai was inspired to write the miniseries when he was sitting in his car on a Saturday morning, people-watching and waiting for his daughter to finish her drama lesson. He found it interesting that the parents who were kind of offering up their children, and absorbing all the hopes and dreams of what the course leaders and the academy leaders were kind of selling were so trusting of the virtual strangers.

Cast

• Babou Ceesay as Manny Mensah
• Jill Halfpenny as Sam Mensah
• Olive Gray as Jess Mensah
• Max Fincham as Isaac Mensah
• Ellen Thomas as Maggie Mensah
• Susie Wokoma as Sabrina Stevens
• Tut Nyuot as Tyrone Stevens-Mensah
• Rudi Dharmalingam as Dominic Nadesan
• Rebecca Front as Cheryl Denon
• John Schwab as Jotham Starr
• Joseph May as Brett Huntley
• Arnold Oceng as Ryan Osei
• Lin Blakley as Avril Allen
• Henry Garrett as Mitch Colney

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Shattered Dreams"	Lewis Arnold	Levi David Addai	8 July 2019 (2019-07-08)
A London family face a dilemma after their 13-year-old son Isaac is molested by a Hollywood film producer while filming in the U.S. Unable to pursue the perpetrator through the UK courts they accept a substantial pay-off to keep quiet.
2	"Valiant & Son"	Lewis Arnold	Levi David Addai	9 July 2019 (2019-07-09)
As the day of the film premiere approaches and young Isaac is forced to come face to face with his abuser, will Manny finally act when he is confronted by his son's despair?
3	"All That Glitters..."	Lewis Arnold	Levi David Addai	15 July 2019 (2019-07-15)
As it comes under increasing pressure the Mensah family begins to fracture, Isaac spirals out of control and as the truth starts to come out Jess plays a dangerous game with the press.
4	"The Valiant One"	Lewis Arnold	Levi David Addai	16 July 2019 (2019-07-16)
With Isaac in hospital, Manny and Sam are threatened by Jotham's lawyer. Mother and father both decide to seek justice for their son - but in very different ways.

Critical reception

The Independent gave it four stars, stating that it 'speaks eloquently about the abuse of children by the powerful, how persistent the phenomenon is and how uneven the balance of power between abuser and abused is – and will probably always be, given that so much of it is about money.' The Guardian gave it three stars and called it 'slight', stating that the subject matter was powerful, but its characters were 'not yet fine-grained enough for us to feel their personal agony and loss. Also, the question of what we would do in their situation is too far removed from likelihood to be a compelling draw.'

External links

• Dark Money at IMDb