Sacha Parkinson is most persuasive when a character is still finding the nerve to speak. Her controlled performance in Apostasy gives hesitation real weight, and makes a strong case for giving her more substantial film roles.
Fi1m perspective
In Apostasy (2017), Luisa has started college and comes home with new ideas and a boyfriend. Sacha Parkinson makes her hesitation matter as much as her growing willingness to speak up. She lets the change happen without advertising it, so the older daughter's independence feels difficult rather than inevitable. We were moved by the effort it takes her to become firmer within a household governed by faith. It is a persuasive performance because the uncertainty remains part of it.
Her breakthrough was Sian Powers in Coronation Street (2009–2011), followed by supporting work in period ensembles including The Mill (2013–2014) and Mr Selfridge (2015–2016). These are different settings, but the recurring parts are young women whose choices are restricted by family or circumstance. It would be lazy to treat the move from soap to independent film as proof that the acting had suddenly become serious. The shift in Apostasy is towards saying less. Parkinson gives the unspoken disagreement time to register.
Writer-director Daniel Kokotajlo asked for less acting, an instruction Parkinson has said made her worry that she might appear dull. His film gives her good reason to hold back: this family does not need its beliefs explained to itself. Siobhan Finneran plays the mother, Ivanna, who believes what the congregation teaches, while Molly Wright is Luisa's younger sister, Alex. Parkinson has to belong beside them even as Luisa begins to question the household's rules. Her control makes that strain convincing.
Our enthusiasm for Apostasy has a caveat: its second half is bolder than it is tidy. The family performances do not make those uneven passages disappear. Parkinson is nevertheless a reason to see it, and her work here deserves attention beyond the familiar story of an actor leaving a soap. We would welcome more parts that give her time to work through such conflicting feelings. Start with Apostasy, provided a difficult family drama is the evening you had in mind.
Biography
Sacha Parkinson is an English actress born on 11 March 1992 in Salford, Greater Manchester. She was educated at Walkden High School and began her acting career as a child.
Parkinson first appeared on screen in the 2003 Channel 4 adaptation of The Illustrated Mum. She took guest roles in series including The Royal, The Bill and Doctors, and appeared in Grange Hill in 2007. From 2009 to 2011 she played Sian Powers in Coronation Street. Her film credits include Awaydays (2009) and Apostasy (2017), in which she played Luisa.
Other television work includes Shameless, Survivors, My Mad Fat Diary, Mr Selfridge and The Mill.
