---
title: "The Little Drummer Girl"
year: 2018
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-little-drummer-girl"
fi1m_score: 76
critics_score: 71
critics_reviews: 15
published: "2026-09-17T19:49:41.945464+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-17T19:49:42.307169+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Little Drummer Girl (2018)

Created by Park Chan-wook · MPA TV-MA · Drama, War & Politics

**Fi1m score: 76** · Critics 71 from 15 reviews

*In a sentence:* Six hours of the seventies’ loudest wallpaper and Florence Pugh outstares all of it

> Park Chan-wook shoots John le Carré’s novel in the loudest colours the seventies had to offer, and Florence Pugh holds the centre of every frame. It dawdles in the middle and the romance goes round twice, but the last two episodes are properly tense.

## Synopsis

West Germany, 1979. A bomb hidden in a suitcase goes off in the home of an Israeli diplomat. Martin Kurtz (Michael Shannon), an Israeli intelligence officer, assembles a team, including his deputy Shimon Litvak (Michael Moshonov), to find the bomber. In England, Charmian ‘Charlie’ Ross (Florence Pugh), an actress with a fringe theatre company, loud politics and a habit of lying, is offered a paid holiday in Greece by a benefactor nobody has met. On the beach she notices a silent man reading in the sand, Gadi Becker (Alexander Skarsgård). He follows her to Athens and, on the Acropolis after dark, hands her over to Kurtz, who wants to cast her in a play with no audience: the lover of a Palestinian man she has never met.

## Review

Park Chan-wook, the Korean director of *Oldboy* (2003) and [*The Handmaiden*](https://film.one/film/the-handmaiden) (2016), has taken John le Carré’s novel and stretched it over six episodes written by Michael Lesslie and Claire Wilson. The idea is le Carré’s best: Martin Kurtz (Michael Shannon), an Israeli intelligence officer, recruits Charlie (Florence Pugh), an English actress, to play the lover of a Palestinian bomber she has never met, and to play it so well that his people take her in. Spying, the series keeps saying, is acting for an audience that will kill you if you forget your lines. It is a good series, slow and sometimes too pleased with its own furniture, and Pugh is the reason to see it.

She plays Charlie as a woman who lies fluently and badly at the same time, changing her story halfway through a sentence and daring you to notice. She is vain about her politics and hungry for a bigger part, and Pugh lets us watch her work out, scene by scene, that she has been given one. Shannon’s Kurtz is the opposite temperature: courteous, patient, a director who has already cast the play and is only waiting for the actress to agree. Alexander Skarsgård’s Gadi Becker, the handler Charlie calls Joseph, barely speaks. He is a man playing a man who is playing another man, and Skarsgård does most of it with his shoulders and a pair of sunglasses.

The scene that got at us comes early. Becker sits across from Charlie and tells her, in the first person, about a love affair she had with Michel (Amir Khoury), and the camera holds on Pugh while she decides to believe it. It is seduction done as paperwork, and it unsettled us more than any of the gunfire, because by the end of it we could not say which of the two men she had fallen for and we doubt she could either. Every later scene between them runs on that doubt.

Kim Woo-hyung shoots it in colours the decade itself might have found loud. Mustard, teal and a hard orange sit in every frame, and Park likes to put his actors dead centre in a doorway or a corridor so that you notice the building as much as the person in it. Maria Djurkovic’s interiors, hotel lobbies of brown glass and flats where the sofa matches the ashtray, tell you the year before anyone says a line. Stephen Noble dresses Charlie in red among men in beige, which is not subtle and is not meant to be. Cho Young-wuk’s score, strings with low brass underneath, is the one element that never raises its voice. The three editors, Fiona DeSouza, Michael Harrowes and Justine Wright, cut the talk long and the action short, so a car journey lasts a minute and a lie takes ten.

The trouble is the middle. Episodes three and four go over the same ground, Charlie doubting, Becker withholding, Kurtz waiting, and the romance is restated so often that we began to suspect Park was more interested in how it looked than in where it was going. Michael Moshonov’s Shimon Litvak, Kurtz’s deputy, spends a great deal of time in vans. The Palestinian side gets less room than the argument deserves, though Lubna Azabal makes every minute she has as Fatmeh count. Charles Dance arrives as Commander Picton to be rude to the Israelis in a tremendous suit, and Katharina Schüttler’s Helga Stern is the one person on screen who seems to find the whole business funny.

Some critics found it bloodless. We did not. Its people have decided to put off feeling until the job is done, and the series does not do their feeling for them. Where it does lose something is the politics. Le Carré’s novel spends as much time on the rights and wrongs of the Israeli-Palestinian fight as on the tradecraft; the series treats that argument as scenery for a story about acting, and anyone who has read the book will notice the missing weight.

Next to [*The Night Manager*](https://film.one/tv/the-night-manager) (2016), the previous BBC le Carré, this is slower, stranger and less fun, and far more interested in what is going on inside its heroine. Give it two episodes. If the Acropolis scene has not hooked you by the end of the first, the middle will lose you; if it has, the last two hours are as tense as the genre gets, and Pugh’s final scenes are worth the wait. It carries a 15.

*Fi1m score 76, published 17 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics like it, and the praise settles in two places: Park Chan-wook’s direction and Florence Pugh’s Charlie. The reviews describe a handsome, operatic and deliberately paced spy drama, with the cinematography, editing and period detail singled out again and again. Pugh is named in nearly every notice as the anchor, her Charlie plausible in her ambiguity, and a few critics judge the series a more successful le Carré adaptation than earlier attempts, including The Night Manager.

The reservations cluster around pace and temperature. Even admirers call it stately or sluggish as a thriller, and several find it cold: Vulture thinks it theoretical and bloodless, Collider interesting but short on heart. The Hollywood Reporter goes furthest, finding key roles miscast and the screenplay stripped of le Carré’s political anguish. The spread is wide, from raves to one outright rejection, but the doubters object to the same slowness most critics forgive.

### Reviews we read (15)

- **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (90/100, inferred): The critic praises Park Chan-wook's stunning TV debut as director of this John le Carré adaptation, highlighting its allure as a thriller. The performances by the lead cast, including Florence Pugh and Alexander Skarsgård, are singled out for making the spy story compelling. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/the-little-drummer-girl-amc-review-alexander-skarsgard-john-le-carre-1202016910/)
- **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): The critic finds Park Chan-wook’s stylish direction elevates the Le Carré adaptation into gripping espionage that improves on The Night Manager. Florence Pugh’s pugnacious, intelligent performance as Charlie stands out as the highlight amid the spies and shifting realities. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/oct/29/the-little-drummer-girl-review-what-is-real-john-le-carre)
- **The AV Club**, Katie Rife (B+): Park Chan-wook brings a glamorous, operatic and erotically charged take to the spy genre with exquisite direction and visuals that evoke period melodrama. The series is a bit sluggish as a thriller but sublime as auteurist art, with strong performances elevating the meditation on identity and romance. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/park-chan-wook-brings-swooning-romance-to-amc-s-spy-min-1830497901)
- **The i Paper** (★★★★): The series is a serious, dark and downbeat spy saga with a superbly tense climax that proves John le Carré explores the dark side of human nature as well as any novelist. Florence Pugh’s performance as the plausibly ambiguous Charlie anchors the finely-acted human drama at its core. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/the-little-drummer-girl-bbc1-final-episode-review-229217)
- **Empire**, Danielle Graph (70/100, inferred): With Park Chan-wook at the helm this is a visual treat featuring breathtaking architectural shots and sheer beauty in the cinematography. Florence Pugh delivers a natural and easy performance reminiscent of early Kate Winslet as the actress recruited for espionage. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/little-drummer-girl-review/)
- **The Independent** (70/100, inferred): The stylish adaptation continues to impress thanks to Park Chan-wook’s direction, rich cinematography and meticulous period detail. Florence Pugh and the cast deliver strong work in this intelligent Le Carré drama, though Charlie’s rapid transformation feels slightly facile. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/little-drummer-girl-review-episode-2-bbc-watch-florence-pugh-alexander-skarsgard-john-le-carre-a8614176.html)
- **The Times**, Gabriel Tate (★★★★☆): The series is absorbing and at times sensational despite stately pacing and some self-indulgent stylings from director Park Chan-wook. Florence Pugh’s Charlie and key encounters deliver strong performances and erotic tension in this handsome production. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/tv-review-the-little-drummer-girl-gun-no-6-qfzlxvx5r)
- **Variety**, Guy Lodge (70/100, inferred): This is a more successful take on le Carré’s intricate work than the 1984 film, with the long format giving room for complex plotting and the filmmaker’s languid atmospherics. Florence Pugh gives a star-sealing performance in a vehicle that infuses latter-day gender politics into the storytelling. [Read](https://variety.com/2018/tv/reviews/little-drummer-girl-review-amc-alexander-skarsgard-1202979733/)
- **Vulture** (55/100, inferred): The miniseries is dazzling in its narrative architecture and editing but feels theoretical and bloodless, more interesting conceptually than emotionally involving as a spy story. Florence Pugh delivers a superb lead performance while the rest of the cast is ill-served. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2018/11/the-little-drummer-girl-amc-review.html)
- **The Hollywood Reporter** (40/100, inferred): This slow-burner lacks the instantly seductive appeal of The Night Manager despite lavish locations and lush visuals, with some key roles feeling miscast and the stretched-out plot dragging in places. The screenplay strips out much of le Carré’s moral and political anguish without adding enough sexy thriller elements. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/little-drummer-girl-review-1152192/)
- **Collider**, Allison Keene (★★★★): The critic finds the miniseries interesting but cold overall, praising Florence Pugh's bold and genuine performance as the central spy while noting the lack of emotional depth and heart despite stylish direction from Park Chan-wook. [Read](https://collider.com/the-little-drummer-girl-review/)
- **The Ringer**, Chris Ryan (80/100, inferred): The critic calls the miniseries a brilliant adaptation that gets John le Carré right, praising its gripping spy thriller elements set against the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while emphasizing the psychological depth and interiority of the characters over mere spycraft. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2018/11/19/tv/the-little-drummer-girl-amc-le-carre-review)
- **Den of Geek**, Louisa Mellor (70/100, inferred): Park Chan-wook delivers a beautifully crafted, arty and stylised spy drama with compelling performances from the lead cast. The episode establishes a unique, authored visual approach and thematic focus on performance and espionage that promises much for the series. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-little-drummer-girl-episode-1-review/)
- **Digital Spy**, Cameron K McEwan (70/100, inferred): The production reeks of quality with stunning visuals, strong direction from Park Chan-wook, and standout performances from Florence Pugh and Michael Shannon. While the pace is deliberate rather than urgent, it delivers depth, intrigue and memorable characters. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a869252/the-little-drummer-girl-episode-1-review-michael-shannon/)
- **Paste**, Jacob Oller (7.1): The critic praises Park Chan-wook's confident direction and visual flair for elevating the series with tension, color, and perspective, while criticizing the slow pace, repetitive romance, and heavy-handed metaphors. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/the-little-drummer-girl/the-little-drummer-girl-amc-alexander-skarsgard-fl)

## Details

- **Created by:** Park Chan-wook
- **Director:** Park Chan-wook
- **Writer:** Michael Lesslie, Claire Wilson
- **Novel:** John le Carré
- **Cinematography:** Kim Woo-hyung
- **Editor:** Michael Harrowes, Fiona DeSouza, Justine Wright
- **Music:** Cho Young-wuk
- **Production design:** Maria Djurkovic
- **Costume design:** Stephen Noble
- **Producer:** Laura Hastings-Smith
- **Cast:** Michael Shannon as Martin Kurtz; Alexander Skarsgård as Gadi Becker; Florence Pugh as Charmian 'Charlie' Ross; Michael Moshonov as Shimon Litvak; Kate Sumpter as Rose; Simona Brown as Rachel; Clare Holman as Miss Bach; Gennady Fleyscher as Schwilli
- **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA
- **Release (the US):** 28 October 2018
- **Genres:** Drama, War & Politics
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyPnZjAl6Xo

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: buy, sd
- Apple TV: buy, hd

*Checked 2026-09-17.*

Also available in: AT, CA, DE, GB, IE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The Handmaiden* (2016), Fi1m 85: Park Chan-wook’s own con-trick romance, with the same precision and rather more heat. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-handmaiden.md)
- *Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy* (2011), Fi1m 84: Le Carré in grey rather than orange; slower still, and every bit as watchful. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/tinker-tailor-soldier-spy.md)
- *The Spy Who Came in from the Cold* (1965): Richard Burton drinks his way through le Carré’s bleakest plot; the original article.
- *Munich* (2005), Fi1m 80: Spielberg follows Israeli agents across seventies Europe and counts the moral cost properly. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/munich.md)
- *The Americans* (2013): Two Soviet spies whose marriage is the cover story; the long form done right.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/the-little-drummer-girl