“Toxic Town” on Netflix: a poignant true story about a health scandal

It's a bit like the British "Erin Brockovich", staging a female fight to denounce an ecological scandal. "Toxic Town", the four episodes of which are available on Netflix this Thursday, February 27, takes place from 1995 to 2009. Its setting is the town of Corby, in central England, which experienced great growth in the 1960s and 1970s by developing its economic activity around steel production. While the steel industry then fell into disuse, the municipality sought to rehabilitate the land. It was therefore necessary to move the toxic waste polluting the area.

The mini-series begins in 1995, during these operations. Several residents become pregnant and discover when their children are born that they suffer from various malformations. Little by little, more and more mothers from the town of Corby will come together and, with the help of a lawyer, will take the town council to court. The challenge is to prove that its members were negligent in managing the sanitation of the land, causing contamination directly responsible for the disabilities of their offspring.

In this fiction based on a true story, Jodie Whittaker ("Broadchurch," "Doctor Who" ) plays Susan McIntyre, whose second son, Connor, was born with a right hand without fingers. Embodying the spearhead of the mobilization of mothers seeking justice for their children, the 42-year-old actress shows a constant energy, brimming with intensity as much in her revolt as in her role as a mother.

Aimee Lou Wood ("Sex Education", "The White Lotus" season 3 ) plays Tracey, whose little Shelby lived only a few days, suffering from developmental problems in many organs. Her sensitivity is wonderfully exploited. Another well-known female face but a little less present on screen, Claudia Jessie ("The Bridgerton Chronicle") plays Maggie. She is the wife of one of the workers employed to transport toxic waste, whose son has a malformation in one of his feet.

Alongside them, several men are also played by big names in British fiction: Robert Carlyle ("The Full Monty"), in the role of one of the city councilors, Brendan Coyle ("Downton Abbey") in that of his superior, Rory Kinnear ("Black Mirror", "Years and Years") plays the mothers' lawyer, and Joe Dempsie ("Skins", "Game of Thrones") Maggie's husband. It is therefore a five-star ensemble that carries this moving series.

Of course, the screenplay sometimes loses some of its momentum in the legal twists and turns of the case, but the emotion is constant thanks to the performances of the actors, particularly the actresses.

Classic in its unfolding and staging, "Toxic Town" is one of those necessary stories, as revolting as it is hard-hitting, that helps to raise awareness. Above all, it is a poignant tribute to those who did not hesitate to take on the role of David against Goliath, at the heart of a system that seeks to ignore them.