‘WAR’ – HAYU delivers an addictive and devilish legal drama – Review
There’s something irresistible about watching the rich, powerful and utterly ruthless tear each other apart. From Succession to The White Lotus and Industry, prestige television has made an art form out of beautiful people behaving terribly — and now the lawyers are stepping into the ring.
WAR is a slick, fast-moving legal drama that throws audiences into the vicious world of London’s most prestigious law firms, where ambition is currency and winning is everything.
Created by George Kay, the mastermind behind Lupin, Criminal and Hijack, the eight-episode anthology series centres on rival firms Cathcarts and Taylor & Byrne as they go head-to-head over a spectacularly messy divorce.
At the centre of the storm are billionaire tech mogul Morgan Henderson (Dominic West) and his film-star wife Carla Duvall (Sienna Miller). With a billion-dollar fortune hanging in the balance, this isn’t going to be an amicable separation.
The gloves are off. And the lawyers are ready.
Everybody Has Something to Lose
West and Miller are perfectly cast as the warring couple. Both bring serious dramatic pedigree to the battlefield, and their chemistry crackles as Morgan and Carla’s relationship mutates from marriage to full-scale warfare.
What makes WAR particularly juicy is how quickly loyalties begin to shift. Just when you think you know who deserves your sympathy, the series pulls the rug out.
Nobody plays fair when money, fame and power are involved — and West and Miller clearly relish every deliciously nasty moment.
Welcome to the Firm
The real fun, however, happens behind the scenes.
WAR expands beyond its headline-making clients to explore the lawyers fighting their battles, and this is where the series finds its teeth.
Archie Renaux brings considerable charm to ambitious solicitor Jonathan ‘Jonny’ Warren, whose desire to prove himself pulls him deeper into the increasingly tangled world surrounding the case.
Phoebe Fox and James McArdle bring plenty of spark to Serene Byrne and Nicholas Taylor, the husband-and-wife partners fighting Carla’s corner. Their professional partnership is tested as the case becomes increasingly personal, while Nina Sosanya’s Beatrice “Queen Bea” Ubosi commands Cathcarts with cool authority.
Then there’s Pip Torrens as St. John Smallwood — an absolute scene-stealer. Erudite, calculating and utterly ruthless, Torrens clearly understands that sometimes the most dangerous person in the room is the one speaking the most softly.
Legal Drama With Bite
WAR moves with the pace of a thriller, piling on tension, scandal and increasingly complicated legal manoeuvring without losing sight of the machinery behind the case.
That balance is one of its greatest strengths. Beneath the heightened drama, the series takes audiences inside the workings of a modern law firm, giving the courtroom battles enough authenticity to make the legal machinations feel grounded.
And with a second season already in motion, introducing two new rival firms and an explosive defamation case, WAR is clearly only getting started.
Verdict: Court is Now in Session
WAR is slick, scandalous and seriously addictive. With Dominic West and Sienna Miller tearing into each other at the centre of it all, this is prestige legal drama with plenty of teeth.
WAR streams on HAYU from October 4, with episodes dropping weekly.
Image: HAYU
