Fifteen-Love, Amazon Prime Video review — tennis drama racks up faults

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We have found a way to render fantastical creatures convincingly on screen, to plunge the viewer into immersive, unreal worlds . . . yet dramatising sport remains consistently unrealistic. Fifteen-Love, a drama set in the world of top-tier tennis, becomes the latest offender in its first few minutes with a sequence depicting a French Open match that’s so unconvincing it threatens to take us out of the series before it has even really begun.

If the inauthentic tennis scenes don’t put you off, what follows probably will. Like its faded and jaded former teen-star protagonist, this six-part Amazon Prime Video series doesn’t live up to the potential of its timely, uneasy set-up. Pro-turned-physio Justine (Ella Lily Hyland) accuses her erstwhile high-profile coach Glenn (Aidan Turner) of past sexual misconduct, five years after injury derailed her promising career.

Rather than impactfully addressing the darkness lingering under the Wimbledon-white image of tennis, Fifteen-Love takes its serious premise and presents it in a manner more befitting a titillating psychosexual thriller. While there’s a grim plausibility to how Justine’s accusations are met with carefully worded scepticism, her erratic manner and stalkerish obsession with Glenn and his new protégés seem like contrived characteristics designed to build intrigue and doubt.

It could be argued that Justine’s intense infatuation allows the show to broach the complexity of consent. But any attempt to tackle thorny themes is undermined by a lack of nuance and naturalism in the writing; dialogue is often in service of narrative exposition.

Chintzy artifice extends to the production — from the tennis courts to nightclubs — and the performances (although Turner may excuse his staginess by the fact that his character is concealing his true self). Newcomer Hyland fares better with the uneven material, giving a sparky, assured turn. She is the show’s standout ace amid the many faults.

★★☆☆☆

On Amazon Prime Video from July 21