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REVIEW: First attracting attention as Daisy Millar on British teen spy series M.I. High, Bel Powley really made a global impact with the 2015 double-punch of The Diary of a Teenage Girl and A Royal Night Out.
A true scene-stealer in the latter, the then 23-year-old Powley was a revelation as the party-loving Princess Margaret. What followed were terrific turns in movies like Mary Shelley and The King of Staten Island and TV series such as Everything I Know About Love and The Morning Show.
But whereas Powley was part of impressively assembled ensembles in those last two dramedies, she gets a chance to take centre stage – and shine – in the far more sombre A Small Light (now streaming on Disney+), seemingly grabbing it with both hands.
While featuring the story of the famous Frank family, immortalised in daughter Anne’s diary, this eight-part series is really all about the help they received from Amsterdam resident Miep Gies (Powely) during the latter-half of World War II.
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After a tension-building opening gambit involving a checkpoint crossing in mid-July 1942, we’re quickly whisked back to 1933 and young Miep Nieuwenburg facing an ultimatum – either get a job, or marry her brother Cas (Laurie Kynaston).
“He’s your adopted brother – and your father checked,” her mother says, waving away Miep’s strong objections. “Whoa! With who?” comes the shocked reply.
While their parents think it’s a solution that would “solve everybody’s problems”, Cas isn’t overly keen on the idea either – mainly because she’s “not his type”, as he’s gay.
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Miep Gies (Bel Powley, right) attempts to assist a stressed Margot Frank (Ashley Brooke) through an Amsterdam checkpoint in the opening episode of A Small Light.
Still, finding employment, when her school grades are terrible, experience decidedly minimal and technical skills non-existent, won’t be easy.
A secretarial position at pectin company Opekta does look like just the ticket, but owner Otto Frank (Liev Schreiber) can’t get past her lack of prior paid positions. However, when she breaks down with her enforced marriage sob story, he invites her to try making some jam.
After a few failed attempts, she’s rather exasperated, especially as no one has actually filled the advertised position, the place is a mess and the constantly ringing phone isn’t being answered. It’s then that Otto reveals that it has all been a test, designed to ensure she can speak about their product knowledgeably.
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A Small Light initially portrays the young teenage Anne Frank (Billie Boullet) as somewhat petulant and self-obsessed.
As their friendship grows and Miep embarks on a relationship with the Kafka-loving Jan (Gangs of London’s Joe Cole), so too does the spectre of war. Miep’s conviction that the Dutch will resist Adolf Hitler’s march through Europe proves spectacularly naive and, by May 1940, the country has been occupied.
Sensing that his new home is becoming just as dangerous as the Germany they left, Otto attempts to find his family safe passage to America, but when that proves unsuccessful, he pleads with Miep for help in keeping them safely hidden. “We have to get out, but there’s nowhere to go. What I’m asking you to do is dangerous, you could get arrested – or even worse.”
Despite Jan’s concerns, Miep knows it is something she simply has to do.
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Bel Powley delivers a terrific performance as A Small Light’s Miep Gies.
Former Grey’s Anatomy screenwriters – the husband and wife team of Tony Phelan and Joan Rater – have crafted an adroit and absorbing World War II drama that, despite the obvious tensions, lives up to its name thanks largely to Powley’s shining performance as the colourful Miep.
While the production design, costuming and Susanna Fogel’s (The Flight Attendant) direction are top-notch, it’s the emphasis on character (a by-product of being able to spend eight hours, rather than the traditional two-to-four in this world) that sets this apart from your standard World War II drama.
As well as Schreiber and Cole, look out for Australian actor Noah Taylor (Peaky Blinders) and Brit Andy Nyman (Judy) in key roles.
A Small Light is now available to stream on Disney+.
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