Spent

“There is a lot going on in Spent, mirroring Mia’s chaotic energy, but never overwhelming the viewer. It is worth watching for the dry comedy alone, but it is the emotional heft that stays with you. Mia learns that you cannot truly go home again and that you cannot get through the second half of your life on the brio that powered you through the first. There are clunky bits, but it is an astonishingly accomplished debut.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“This series isn’t afraid of taking a light touch to heavy subjects, such as the morally bankrupt world in which a sleazy older boss is preying on a vulnerable 15-year-old Estonian model, Petra, and feeding her drugs. Mia shrugs that it’s only what she had to put up with when starting out, and is more concerned with herself and the sleazy boss giving her some work. I thought this was pretty honest. Spent is uneven, but it is worth the investment because of the nuggets of De Swarte’s observations.”
Carol Midgley, The Times 

“The comedy is that of a whirlwind in a static place; Mia’s energy contrasting with the concrete brutalism around her. Spent may lack the big yucks of its sitcom forebears (certainly the show is stylistically closer to recent British comedies like Big Mood and Boarders) but once the rather shallow premise gives way to a character study, there’s much to enjoy. At its best, the show is just like the cover girl it depicts: eye-catching and seductive.”
Nick Hilton, The Independent

“Spent is an easy watch – far easier than it ought to be. It feels as though De Swarte had a wealth of complex, thorny ideas that ended up being squashed and compartmentalised into a blasé comedy (though the laughs are few and far between) about a spoiled brat who is no longer rich.”
Emily Baker, The i

“Crucially, for a series billed as a comedy-drama, Mia isn’t funny. You can forgive dislikeable leads a lot if they make you laugh (see Succession) but Spent sets up plenty of comedic situations – a teenage party, a disastrous circumcision ritual, some dog sitting; some actual dogging – without ever delivering the payload. Likewise, De Swarte creates a terrific supporting cast around Mia – but by the end they only serve as collateral. Each in turn is abused or manipulated by a character who dominates the drama without being anything like the most interesting person in it.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph