Or the initial set-up, in which a new commander Sarah (Chloe Sevigny) arrives to take control of the site with her Brazilian wife Maggie (Alice Braga) and challenging teenage son Fraser (Jack Dylan Grazer), isn’t intriguing. That’s not to say that Guadagnino’s elaborate creation of a US military base isn’t enticing. This isn’t entertainment for the masses, or a TV show with a dynamic which urges momentum to the next episode Premiering in full at the San Sebastian Film Festval after selected episode previews, this will draw attention, but not enough of it. Streamers have deep pockets, especially now, but this prestige project seems unlikely to deliver either the kind of viewing numbers or rapturous critical reception to justify the network making many more such approaches. A timely reminder that TV is not an auteur medium, this loose serial set on an American army base in Italy has everything you might expect from a Guadagnino film, but none of the sense of purpose or momentum that drives long-form TV drama. If the question is what would an art-minded film director do with 433 minutes of air time and seemingly unlimited funding, the answer is We Are Who We Are, Luca Guadagnino’s drifty 8圆0 study for HBO.
