# Angels in America (2003)

> In 1985 Manhattan, a gay couple's crisis, a closeted Mormon lawyer's crisis, and a dying power broker's crisis collide while angels descend during the AIDS epidemic.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/10471

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 58 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, fantasy
- Created by: Tony Kushner
- Network: HBO
- Cast: Al Pacino, Justin Kirk, Ben Shenkman, Mary-Louise Parker, Meryl Streep, Jeffrey Wright, Patrick Wilson, Emma Thompson
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318997/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: dense
- Violence: mild
- Tone: theatrical, darkly comic, aching, fervent, surreal

## What critics say

Viewers broadly rated this HBO miniseries positively, admiring its ambitious adaptation of Tony Kushner's play and its strong performances.

## Synopsis

Angels in America (2003) is an American HBO miniseries created by Tony Kushner, adapted from his Pulitzer-winning stage play. Set in 1985 Manhattan during the AIDS epidemic and the Reagan era, the six-episode drama follows Prior Walter (Justin Kirk), a young gay man whose diagnosis strains his relationship with Louis Ironson (Ben Shenkman), while Mormon Republican attorney Joe Pitt (Patrick Wilson) is drawn into the orbit of powerful fixer Roy Cohn (Al Pacino). Cohn, himself closeted and dying, uses his influence to shape Joe's career as Joe's wife Harper (Mary-Louise Parker) escapes into Valium-fueled hallucinations. Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson play multiple roles across the sprawling cast. The engine of the story is the tangle of guilt, faith, ambition and desire that binds these characters, punctuated by an angel who summons Prior to become a prophet. Each episode moves between hospital rooms, law offices and dreamlike celestial spaces, building an epic, theatrical experience. Its tone is funny, furious and aching at once, closer to a sprawling stage drama than a conventional television series. Fans of The Wire, Succession and Twin Peaks will find resonance in its layered politics, its hallucinatory detours and its unflinching portrait of hypocrisy.

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