In an exclusive suburb where fines are issued should the grass grow above the regulated six inches, tensions between Elena Richardson (Reese Witherspoon) and newcomer Mia Warren (Kerry Washington) simmer from the moment they first meet. The fact that very early in the opening episode we watch the large, luxurious Richardson family home uncontrollably aflame and burn to the ground (with arson suspected) sets the scene to a very personal conflict that at its core is exploring the concept of motherhood.
A woman who plays by the rules and who has strict, colour-coded schedules for her four high-achieving kids, Elena struggles with transient lifestyler Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother. With teenage daughter Pearl (Lexi Underwood) in tow, the pair burst the idyllic suburban bubble of Shaker Heights.
Both women have their secrets and chequered pasts. Both women find themselves reluctantly embroiled in each other’s lives primarily through their children. Pearl, moving constantly from one temporary home to the next, is enraptured by the opulent permanence of the Richardsons. Rebellious Izzy (Megan Scott), youngest of the four Richardson siblings, is attracted to Mia’s mystery and disregard for the rules. Both her brothers are attracted to Pearl.
Initially wary, eventually wholly distrustful, privilege, class and race contribute to the rapid breakdown of what, according to Elena, is a fledgling friendship. Mia, as a struggling black woman, tenant in Elena’s apartment and part-time house-manager to the Richardsons, sees it very differently. But do not expect a simple drawn line between white and black/rich and poor/adult and child/husband and wife. The strength of Little Fires Everywhere is that within the (occasionally over-the-top) melodrama of family life, there’s not always clear distinctions of who is right and who is wrong.
With its secondary plot involving a custody battle of a young Chinese mother looking to have her baby returned to her from a wealthy childless couple (close friends of the Richardsons), Little Fires Everywhere is not short on melodrama or driving home its exploration of ‘motherhood’, race and class. And, adapted from the novel by Celeste Ng, this is both its strength and weakness. When it hits the mark, Little Fires Everywhere is an engrossing drama. But it spreads itself too thinly (eight episodes of between 50 and 60 minutes each) and the intensity of its subject becomes watered down and a little too pat and obvious.
Rating: 64%
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