Is Half Man Just Too Bleak?

“Compartmentalization is just taking something from your mind and putting it on your soul.”

Half Man is writer, actor, and comedian Richard Gadd’s much-anticipated follow-up to the massively successful Netflix series Baby Reindeer (2024). Based on Gadd’s Edinburgh Fringe show, Baby Reindeer spent an astonishing eight consecutive weeks on the global Netflix top 10 weekly list.

So, expectations were high for Gadd’s new series. Much like Baby Reindeer, Gadd not only writes but also stars in the series. And much like Baby Reindeer, you do feel like you need a shower after watching an episode…to get it off you!

Please don’t misunderstand, I enjoyed the series, but it was extremely intense, in all the right ways. Gadd (a fellow Scot!) has been both congratulated and criticised for the unflinching honesty in his writing. The autobiographical nature of Baby Reindeer sheds a light on many taboo subjects such as: stalking, mental health, male rape victims, and toxic masculinity.  Half Man also encourages viewers to examine these subjects through the lens of its characters and draw their own conclusions. If you have to view certain scenes through your fingers…well, that’s on you.

Half Man revolves around the life of Niall Kennedy from his adolescence (where he is played by Mitchell Robertson) to his turbulent adulthood (played by Jamie Bell). Niall is coming to terms with his sexuality and masculinity while living in the shadow of his ‘brother from another lover’; Ruben. In their youth, Ruben (Stuart Campbell) is the son of Niall’s mum’s lesbian partner and comes to live with the three after serving time in a Young Offenders Home for biting off someone’s nose. Ruben is ‘troubled’ to say the least, a violent thug with a short temper; not someone you’d want to share a bedroom with. In contrast, Niall is a cowed and bullied boy who develops a toxic, weird, quasi-sexual relationship with Ruben. This is cemented when Niall ejaculates while Ruben has him in a headlock.

In Ruben’s defence (and God knows he needs it), he does quell Niall’s bullies for him and, as an apparent act of kindness, arranges for what has to be the most uncomfortable sex scene I have ever watched on a TV show. You’ll just have to trust me or watch it for yourself, but it involves the characters in a…I guess we’ll go with threesome?

Many have criticised Half Man for being even bleaker than Baby Reindeer, filled with shocking scenes and graphic violence with no real insight nor resolution. I can appreciate this analysis, but what Half Man does do is attempt to tackle a topic that is on everyone’s mind: toxic masculinity.

In our modern world of toxic male grifters and ‘The Manosphere’, Half Man is a testament to the all-consuming black hole of male rage. How it absorbs everything worthwhile in a life. A life like Ruben’s or Niall’s. There are no resolutions because that is not how life usually works. Ruben and Niall have no more insight into their behaviour than the audience do.

Adult Ruben is played by Gadd himself. He never actually intended to play adult Ruben until Jamie Bell convinced him. Gadd transformed himself for the role, gaining a reported 40kg in muscle in a single year. Quite a difference from his somewhat weedy Baby Reindeer character, but still with his ever-present bowl cut. Adult Ruben cuts an extremely imposing figure with a strange kind of charisma (I judge myself); it’s easy to see why Niall is beguiled by him. Ruben is extremely quick to anger and commits sickeningly violent acts you can reverberate through the screen. Though he may be viewed as a ‘high-value man’ with both his physical and financial gains, Ruben is still a thug who sees people as his property. On the other end of the spectrum, Niall is an insecure, sensitive writer whose repeated rejection of his sexuality causes him to indulge in chemsex, dogging, and cottaging. His mother even quips that she doesn’t mind that he is gay; it’s just the way he goes about it!

Jamie Bell was quoted as saying that it was “…a sensory experience reading Richard’s material.” (The Guardian, 2026). And it’s certainly a visceral experience watching! Between the uncomfortable sex scenes, sickening violence, and distressing conversations, Gadd is trying to untangle the contradictions of masculinity for the viewer and, perhaps, also himself. Niall and Ruben’s relationship waxes and wanes throughout the six episodes, edging towards its eventual tragic outcome. Special mention must go to one of the final scenes where Niall and Ruben have, probably, their first honest conversation with a plexiglass barrier between them. The conversation is funny, tragic, and uniquely poignant. The two have never seemed more human than they do during this conversation; truly excellent TV.

Half Man may have been branded as ‘misery porn’ or have a story too thin to stretch over the full six hours of screen time, but it’s certainly an interesting watch which will make you question your own views on masculinity, particularly in this current climate.

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Half Man is available to stream on BBC iPlayer (UK) and HBO Max (US).