Unconditional Love (2003)

If any Whovians are wondering what Sarah Parish (the Rachnoss Empress from “The Runaway Bride”) looks like without eight legs and too many eyes, here’s your chance.  She stars in this TV movie in a decidedly less-spidery role.

 

In Unconditional Love, Lydia and Peter are a pair of devastated, desperate parents.  Their 4-year-old son has been abducted, and as the days slip by, the police lose confidence that he can be found.  That’s when they’re contacted by the abductor, who forces them to jump through increasingly sketchy hoops to get their child back.  Plot-wise, some of it strains credibility, but the central performances are very good; I could believe that distraught parents would act that way if they were in fear for their child’s life.

 

PC plays DI Terry Machin, who’s in charge of the case.  Since, when Lydia and Peter start talking to the abductor, they’re instructed not to tell the police, we don’t see much of him as the story goes on.  Furthermore, as the DI, he’s the boss; another officer is more directly involved than he is.  As such, he doesn’t have a surfeit of screentime or a whole lot to do.

 

Still, there’s a little we can tell about DI Machin.  He’s a buttoned-up professional type, not much of a people person – Peter bristles immediately at his matter-of-fact, all-business conduct.  Also, while he is sympathetic to their situation, he’s all too aware that his department has limited resources, and other criminal activity isn’t taking a siesta while he focuses on the abduction case.

 

Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching it lately, but this movie reminds me a little of the series Broadchurch.  There are some differences – Lydia and Peter’s son is taken not killed, the police don’t play a huge role, and the mystery is about what the abductor wants rather than who it is – but I was getting definite Broadchurch vibes.  It’s most noticeable near the start of the film.  There’s the same mounting dread as the parents realize their child is missing, the same bursts of fear-and-grief-driven irrationality.  I like Broadchurch better, but this is pretty good.

 

Accent Watch

 

RP, I think.  There are enough accent slips that I thought it might be Scottish, but I’m pretty sure he’s putting something on.  Oh, PC…

 

Recommend?

 

In General – If you like a good mix of crime/mystery and human drama, you’d probably like it.  I enjoyed it.

 

PC-wise – Not necessarily.  There isn’t a lot to write home about.

 

Warnings

 

Dark subject matter and thematic elements, some language, a little violence, and references to criminal activity, including drug use.