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Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer in Fellow Travelers.

Fellow Travelers to All the Light We Cannot See: the seven best shows to stream this week

There’s illicit romance under the long shadow of McCarthyism, while a sweeping adaptation of a Pulitzer prize-winning novel is full of stately, sinister grace

Fellow Travelers

The era of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist purges was characterised by paranoia, betrayal and secrets. This slick drama explores what was arguably the most dangerous secret of them all – a same-sex love affair. Matt Bomer is Hawkins Fuller, a political fixer who is warm when he can afford to be; ice-cold when he needs to be. When he catches the eye of earnest Republican operative Tim Laughlin ( Jonathan Bailey ), sparks fly. Can such an alliance have a future? As fans of Thomas Mallon’s novel will know, the answer is yes. Encompassing both triumph and tragedy, the relationship spans the following decades, taking in emancipation, disco and the horror of Aids. Paramount+, from Saturday 28 October

The Lions of Sicily

Vinicio Marchioni and Eduardo Scarpetta in The Lions of Sicily.

A picturesque and sun-dappled costume drama set in 19th-century Italy and adapted from Stefania Auci’s novel The Florios of Sicily. Two brothers, Paolo and Ignazio, decide to leave Calabria for the bright lights of Sicily. They launch a spice business and, before long, have an economic empire. However, the arrival of the independently minded Giulia spells trouble, and soon the family are tearing themselves apart as competitors gather and the issue of succession begins to rear its head. It’s glossy, nicely realised and never remotely understated. Disney+ , out now

Castaway Diva

Park Eun-bin in Castaway Diva.

In one of the more bizarre and arbitrary recent premises for a comedy-drama, this new Korean series introduces Seo Mok-ha, a country girl who is on her way to Seoul to follow her dreams of becoming a K-pop star when, inexplicably, she finds herself stranded on an uninhabited island for 15 years. None of it makes much sense but eventually Seo does reach the city, where she finds doors opening to a surprising extent, considering her lack of obvious talent. Park Eun-bin is an engaging lead and holds the whole eccentric business together. Netflix, out now

The Search for Instagram’s Worst Con Artist

Belle Gibson.

Most people would be wary of a 21-year-old influencer who claimed to have cured their own brain tumour. But desperation can be exploited – and for Belle Gibson the claim initially worked well, gaining her a book deal and millions of Instagram followers devoted to her apparent abandonment of chemotherapy in favour of a miraculous wellness regime. One slight problem: Gibson never had cancer. Her entire story was a fabrication. This documentary explores the case and ponders Gibson’s motives. ITVX, from Thursday 2 November

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All the Light We Cannot See

Aria Mia Loberti in All the Light We Cannot See.

In the bomb-scarred and starving town of Saint-Malo, France, in 1941, a blind woman broadcasts readings of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea over the radio. There is a battle swirling around her, as the locals try to keep her location hidden from the Germans. But one soldier is Werner, a shortwave radio genius who has fallen in love with her readings. Adapted from Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel , this sweeping series starring Aria Mia Loberti and Mark Ruffalo moves slowly but with a stately, sinister grace as the darkness of war encroaches upon human vulnerability. Netflix, from Thursday 2 November

Blue Eye Samurai

Blue Eye Samurai.

“Under the law, revenge is a luxury for men. Women must be practical.” This is the advice given to samurai warrior Mizu as she prepares to avenge the fate of her mother, who gave birth to her after being kidnapped and raped by white men. Mizu ignores the advice and what unfolds is a visually striking and intense animation exploring racial and gender identity – in order to carry out her mission, Mizu must at various points conceal both. It’s dark, gripping stuff and a fine voice cast includes Maya Erskine, Stephanie Hsu and George Takei . Netfix, from Friday 3 November

Heroes welcome … Invincible.

Mark Grayson has a fear of turning into his father. This anxiety is complicated by the fact that Mark’s dad was Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero on Earth. But Omni-Man wasn’t quite as heroic as the younger Mark imagined so, as he develops powers of his own, there’s a legacy to address. Based on Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley’s comic book, the second season of this generic but accomplished animation is a coming-of-age story – after Nolan’s betrayal last season, Mark is less innocent but eager to transcend the memory of his father. Prime Video, from Friday 3 November

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fellow traveller guardian review

We’re first introduced to Hawkins Fuller ( Matt Bomer ) during a going away party in the mid-1980s. He looks weathered, tan spots doting his temples along with sparse gray streaks, a smile plastered on his face so tight that it appears uncanny. He graces the party with a rehearsed familiarity, greeting guests before posing with a cake and his wife, daughter, and grandchild. He makes the perfect picture of a man who achieved the American dream until he turns his head and spots an old acquaintance whose presence could shatter all he’s built.

Marcus Hooks ( Jelani Alladin ), an old flame and friend, tells Hawk that a man named Tim ( Jonathan Bailey ) has requested that he give Hawk an old gift. If the '80s fashioned hairdos weren’t enough to point to the show's current period, mentions of Tim settling his affairs and the question of “How bad is it?” point to an AIDS diagnosis, which we later find Tim suffers from. Marcus leaves, but not before uttering, “You have a beautiful family. A beautiful life. I hope it was worth it.” Then, we are transported back to 1952, where Hawk and Tim first meet. They subtly flirt back and forth at a party before parting ways, but the gazes they leave upon each other's faces prove that this won’t be the last time they meet. This brief moment sparks both parties' decades-long pursuit of love and belonging.

Adapted from the 2007 novel of the same name, “Fellow Travelers” truly begins once the show turns back the clock and focuses on Tim and Hawkins’ initial meeting. From there, it becomes clear how different Hawk’s life in the 1950s is from his life in the 1980s. His happy and heterosexual life that we’re first introduced to is juxtaposed with a life that appears firmly routine. He goes to work as a State Department Official, his office dark and dreary, before leaving to meet an unnamed man to have sex with. No one accompanies him afterward on the dark walk home.

Finally, Hawk and Tim meet again in a park, where Hawk seems enamored with Tim’s drive to break into politics to do good. He finds Tim a job as a junior assistant, where his optimism soon becomes a point of contention between the two. They quickly begin a relationship filled with sex and, slowly, feelings. Yet, their differences of opinions and emotional maturity soon become a point of contention, as does their positions as gay men working in the government during the Lavender scandal era. From a deep scar on Hawk’s shoulder blade to reservations about his true politics, Tim realizes they may not understand each other beyond their physicality. 

“I just wanna know you,” Tim utters one night as the two lay in bed together, to which Hawk replies with a grin that Tim does know him. To Hawk, sex is a means of knowing, but to Tim, sex cannot be where a relationship begins and ends. They are different people, which becomes even more apparent when Tim befriends a woman from work who happens to be a lesbian. Finally, amongst other queer people, Tim sees what life can look like for him. The power of community becomes an important thread as we’re transported off and on to the 1980s, where Tim is taken care of by Marcus and his drag queen-turned-activist boyfriend Frankie ( Noah J. Ricketts ) and a slew of others. In his dying months and weeks, community is the thing that keeps Tim going. Knowing that there are people who care for him and take activism and queer life as seriously as he does gives him a well-needed boost.

On the other hand, it appears that Hawk has become even more solitary over the years. His wife Lucy ( Allison Williams ) seems to know less about him than Tim, and he and his son have an even rockier relationship than Hawk and his own father. For him, this absence of community has led to a life devoid of joy. He continues to hide and, in doing so, continues on a path toward darkness that he may be unable to escape. As the decades pass, and tragedy continues to strike both men, Hawk becomes the one who needs taking care of, and it's in the drug-fueled, disco-hued backdrop of the 1970s that Tim and Hawk become the closest they may have ever been. 

While there’s no doubt that Tim remains the heart of the show, thanks to stellar work by Bailey, Matt Bomer does his best work in years as Hawk. From the first time we see his uncanny smile and threatening aura when people stand in his way, Bomer commands the screen. It’s impossible to look away from him or be unmoved by his prowess, glares so piercing it almost feels as if he’s gazing through the screen. Beyond his anger and his aptness for deceit, Hawk has a deep-rooted sadness that only comes out in later episodes and that Bomer conveys with staggering ease. 

“Did you come here for forgiveness?” Tim asks Hawk at one point early on in the series, and it does seem so for the first few episodes. Tim is more affectionate and longs for their relationship to feel real, which doesn't seem to bother Hawk. But, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that while Hawk doesn’t initially show it, he too is affected by the imposed secrecy their relationship faces. He appeases Tim in small ways, even gifting him cufflinks with his initials, proving he, too, values their bond. To Hawk, these cufflinks are a way for him to let the world know that Tim is his, though it's more unofficial than an engagement ring. Though they may not be able to exist like heterosexual couples, in Tim accepting this gift to show that he belongs to Hawk, the two can bond even more intimately.

The link between queerness and sex is intrinsic, and the creators of "Fellow Travelers" thankfully wholly understand this. From the first sex scene between Tim and Hawk, where their bodies harshly clash, to later sequences where their skin melds together like liquid gold amongst white sheets, the intimacy here is striking. Unlike certain peers in the queer sphere of cinema and television, the show looks at queerness with unwavering honesty, which makes the sex scenes almost staggering. There’s a brief sequence in episode seven, where Hawk and Tim navigate a gay cruising spot in the 1970s, that fully showcases the care of the show's creators. As they walk through the trees, glimmers of different bodies peek through the forest, the sun shining through and beaming off their skin as if the two are in a biblical garden. 

Each body is displayed as if every blemish is important, as is each conversation between the show's characters. While some miniseries feel bloated with all they attempt to cover in such short episodes, no minute is wasted here. Even Marcus and Frankie, though they are supporting   characters, add emotional weight to the adaptation's themes of ostracization outside and within the gay community. From bar raids to secrets and deception, each aspect of living in the dark bears a heavy weight upon the shoulders of each character, a weight so burdensome all of them eventually crumble underneath it. 

Hiding and staying hidden may be the most present theme, but every thread remains intentional and essential. Through each decade we witness, this is a story about the complications of guilt and love and how each manifests differently for different people. The love between Tim and Hawk is never confused or abandoned for another plotline but woven into the show's other themes expertly. This is one of the best miniseries of the year.

All eight episodes were screened for review. "Fellow Travelers" premieres on Paramount+ on October 27th and Showtime on October 29th.

Kaiya Shunyata

Kaiya Shunyata

Kaiya Shunyata is a freelance pop culture writer and academic based in Canada. They have written for RogerEbert.com, Xtra, Okayplayer, The Daily Beast, AltPress and more. 

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Film credits.

Fellow Travelers movie poster

Fellow Travelers (2023)

Matt Bomer as Hawk Fuller

Jonathan Bailey as Tim Laughlin

Noah J. Ricketts as Frankie Hines

Will Brill as Roy Cohn

Andy Milne as Andre

Erin Neufer as Mary Johnson

Keara Graves as Miss Addison

Jane Moffat as Helen

  • Uta Briesewitz
  • Destiny Ekaragha
  • Daniel Minahan

Writer (based on the novel by)

  • Thomas Mallon

Writer (creator)

  • Ron Nyswaner
  • Brandon K. Hines
  • Dee Johnson
  • Katie Rose Rogers
  • Robbie Rogers
  • Jack Solomon

Cinematographer

  • Simon Dennis
  • Christopher Donaldson
  • Wendy Hallam Martin
  • Lara Johnston

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‘Fellow Travelers’ reviews: Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey deliver two of the ‘best lead performances of the year’ in ‘can’t-miss’ Showtime series

  • October 27, 2023 7:00AM

Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer in "Fellow Travelers"

On October 27, 2023, Paramount+ with Showtime premiered “ Fellow Travelers ,” a miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon . Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey star as Hawkins Fuller and Tim Laughlin, two men in a decades-long romance that spans the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the drug-fueled disco hedonism of the 1970s and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. The eight-episode series is a hit with critics, holding fresh at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes . Read our full review-round-up below. 

SEE Showtime drops official trailer for eight-part limited series ‘Fellow Travelers’ premiering October 27 [WATCH]

Coleman Spilde of The Daily Beast praises the drama, stating, “The series, which follows two U.S. government employees who enter a torrid relationship amid 1950s McCarthyism, stands to briefly revive the golden age of TV. And it’s for one damn good reason: sex.” Spilde continues, “’Fellow Travelers’ is the kind of fiercely horny television that used to be a tentpole of pay-per-view network programming. But it’s not just the sex that makes ‘Fellow Travelers’ so great. It’s also the show’s ability to use wildly erotic fornication as a tool to increase its emotional resonance. The limited series looks and feels like classic prestige TV, earning all eight hours of its runtime thanks to cunning writing, terrific editing, and some of the best lead performances of the year. This is can’t-miss television, brought back from its shallow grave.”

Matthew Jacobs of TV Guide notes, “This is a well-considered tour of American turpitude. If the ending veers toward the trauma buffet that pop culture has finally done away with, it’s offset by the swoony love story that grounds the show.” Jacobs adds, “A show that evokes AIDS and McCarthyism in its first 10 minutes invites immediate apprehension. Oh, great, another buffet of gay anguish. You’d be forgiven for dismissing ‘Fellow Travelers’ as a redundant exercise in historical hardship arriving in an age when queer media has graduated from such punishing retrospection. But over the course of its eight episodes, the first of which premieres Oct. 27 on Paramount+ with Showtime, the series finds an elegant, fitfully stirring lens on this defining segment of 20th century America.”

SEE Showtime drops trailer for Emma Stone comedy series ‘The Curse’ coming November 10 [WATCH]

Dan Fienberg of Hollywood Reporter says, “’Fellow Travelers’ is by turns vital and stodgy, with passionate, emotional elements — stars Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey and Allison Williams are consistently compelling across eight hours — in conflict with by-the-numbers storylines.” He continues, “The limited appetite for Showtime’s bland, rubberized recent historical Showtime chronicles — ‘The Loudest Voice,’ ‘The Comey Rule’ — suggests that ‘Fellow Travelers’ would have been better off focusing entirely on Bomer and Bailey, who are both exceptional. Though they never look quite convincing as either the younger or older incarnations of their characters, they overcome the mediocre makeup.” Fienberg concludes, “Bailey’s turn is more volatile, his youthful exuberance gradually giving way to tormented combustibility. In the more consistently externalized role, Bomer locates a wildly charismatic, self-destructive Don Draper streak in Hawk; even when he realizes he can’t go his whole life hurting the people who care about him most, Hawk can’t decide whom he wants to hurt least.”

Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly writes, “’Fellow Travelers’ execution doesn’t always match its time-hopping ambitions, but the magnetism and pathos of the series’ central duo remains powerful throughout.” Baldwin adds, “Once McCarthy and Cohn start to expand their spurious investigations to weed out ‘sexual perverts’ in the halls of government, it foments an atmosphere of paranoia and dread that only serves to bring Hawk and Tim’s contradictory coping mechanisms into stark relief. With his eye on an overseas appointment in a few years, Hawk steers through life behind a smooth and uncrackable façade, acquiring people who meet his needs socially — including his boss’ elegant daughter, Lucy Smith ( Allison Williams ) — and physically. But Tim is desperate for connection and hungry to serve, be it his God, his country, or the man he loves. ‘I’m not ashamed to feel things, that I need to feel things,’ he scolds Hawk. ‘You’re the coward, not me.'”

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Fellow Travelers Is an Unwieldy Gay History Lesson

fellow traveller guardian review

By Richard Lawson

‘Fellow Travelers Is an Unwieldy Gay History Lesson

In the seismic play (and subsequent television mini-series) Angels in America , two men on opposites of political ideology fall into a dangerous kind of love, all while the specter of Roy Cohn looms over them. That play, set in the awful clench of Reagan and AIDS, is haunted by older matters—Bolshevik revolution, pogroms, and the government purges of 1950s McCarthyism. The new mini-series Fellow Travelers (Showtime, October 29) brings the latter era to the foreground, as two men begin an affair while perilously close to, well, the sinister ministrations of Roy Cohn.

The series is based on the novel by Thomas Mallon , which spans decades but mostly stays zoomed in on the scary persecutions of Joseph McCarthy. Hawkins Fuller ( Matt Bomer ) is a suave, handsome, war-hero Washington wheel-greaser, an eligible bachelor who prefers to spend his private time having rough sex (he’s always the dom) with men he meets at gay speakeasies and other cruising spots. He’s quite good at living a secret life, though of course a certain amount of recklessness is always in play.

Hawk is a good enough mentor to wide-eyed Tim Laughlin ( Jonathan Bailey ), a devoutly Catholic rube from the Midwest who wholeheartedly supports anti-Communist efforts and, through Hawk’s help, finds himself working for McCarthy. As their career positions grow ever more compromised, the two men begin a lusty, push-and-pull affair; Hawk is the pragmatic, emotionally distant foil to Tim’s earnest longing. Though we watch as Hawk and Tim move from the furtively carnal toward something like a genuine relationship, the show’s multiple-timeline device tells us pretty early on that this relationship does not endure. In the 1980s, Hawk is in a long marriage to a senator’s daughter while Tim is dying of AIDS in San Francisco.

Fellow Travelers is a weepy, a star-crossed love story about people torn asunder by forces political and personal, by shame and fear and stubbornness. As the series unfolds, the intriguing Washingtonian-thriller trappings of early episodes—notes covertly passed, betrayals done out of ruthless self-preservation—give way to more familiar, plodding melodrama. Creator Ron Nyswaner expands the scope of the story beyond that of the novel, reaching to incorporate a whole history of gay struggle as the movement lurches its way to the progresses of the 1990s and 2000s, amidst the bitter devastation of a plague.

Worthy as those topics are, they feel tacked onto what might otherwise be a shrewd, sad story of head and heart at war during a charged American moment, a sort of gay Graham Greene tale. Had Fellow Travelers not felt the urge to coax the easiest won tears out of its audience, its characters might have maintained more specificity, more intricate depth. Instead the series gradually flattens these men into clichés: Hawk is the tragic old-schooler who only accepts himself when it is too late, Tim the younger idealist who becomes a martyr to the cause. We come to bitterly miss the cold savvy of the series’s beginning, the moody mid-century air of suspense and high-wire discretion.

What is constant throughout is the sex, which Fellow Travelers presents in blunt abundance. A clear power dynamic is established in the many scenes of Hawk and Tim in the heat of passion—one that should be more palpable in the scenes in which they’re clothed. Other lovers enter the picture, particularly during a fraught expedition to 1970s Fire Island, but Hawk and Tim are at the white hot center of the show’s depiction of gay male sexuality. (Which involves a perhaps anachronistic amount of pecs and abs.) It’s appreciated that the show goes there, but these scenes also act in strange discord with the mushier, blander aspects of the series. The show clearly wants to confront the audience with something real and visceral, but then it swings wildly back to broad sentimentalism and didactic point-making.

It’s an imbalanced series, one trying to do too much at once. The show attempts to diversify its purview by introducing a side plot involving an ambitious Black reporter, Marcus ( Jelani Alladin ), contending with D.C. racism and some of his own femme-phobia as he falls for a drag performer, Frankie ( Noah J. Ricketts ). That’s an interesting story to tell, but can only get so much attention when Hawk and Tim are occupying most of the narrative space. Similarly, Hawk’s wife, Lucy ( Allison Williams ), is given focus toward the end of the series, but that feels like too little too late—if she was going to be a major player in the story, her perspective needed to be introduced sooner.

All the actors involved do their best to flesh out what the writing doesn’t. Bomer is particularly striking, using his matinee-idol looks to both seduce and repulse. He’s slickly convincing as a shifty political operator, even when he has to say clunky lines like, “Looks like I finally have a date with Mr. Right. Or should I say, Mr. Right Wing.” Bailey is tasked with mapping Tim’s shift from dutiful conservative to lefty radical, forever contending with his compromised faith. The writing renders Tim too nice, too besotten, too unquestionably good to be a terribly interesting character, but Bailey at least sells the sweetness of first love and the hurt of its ending. (Which happens again and again as Fellow Travelers journeys forward and backward through time.)

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The performances are respectable, the aesthetics are elegant and assured. Fellow Travelers has the makings of a sharp, rewarding series, one that blends intellectual sophistication with the swoon and heartbreak of a romantic epic. But the show is determined to become a cursory civics lesson on top of all that, filling itself with pat lines of exposition in which characters make boilerplate statements about the state of injustice. A druggy dance scene is interrupted, in slo-mo, as revelers learn that Harvey Milk’s killer, Dan White, has been convicted of only manslaughter. The AIDS Quilt is brought into the picture. There are evocations of Vietnam, of Martin Luther King’s assassination.

It all starts to feel like a rehash of the well-meaning but hokey ABC mini-series When We Rise , something that could maybe be shown in piecemeal to a high school class learning about gay rights. That is not where Fellow Travelers begins. It’s a shame, then, to watch the series lose its way as it over eagerly builds its world. If only these men—sorry, smitten, born at a bad time—were allowed to simply be of history, rather than forced into awkward cohabitation with the forces making it.

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‘Fellow Travelers’ delivers a steamy saga about bittersweet love

In showtime’s limited series, two men with surprising politics grapple with history, and each other.

fellow traveller guardian review

“Fellow Travelers,” Showtime’s steamy, bittersweet series about two men in love, covers an extraordinary amount of historical ground — including the Lavender Scare, the Vietnam War and the AIDS crisis — with a deft hand and a light touch. Yes, there’s a lot of sex. (It wouldn’t be entirely misleading to call this the “gay ‘Outlander.’”) But Ron Nyswaner’s adaptation of Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel is in other respects an intriguingly restrained project: Despite its scope and subject matter, the eight-episode series largely resists the impulse to moralize or devolve (as many a lesser show has) into an enraging but didactic history lesson. The show refuses to identify as a tragedy, though it easily could; the arc fits. And without billing itself as an anthropology of gay Americans in the ’50s (or, indeed, the ’60s through ’80s), the series efficiently sketches out the wide variety of ways a wide variety of queer people coped, copulated and compromised.

The emphasis, here, is on “compromised.” This is a show where people make ugly choices. “Fellow Travelers” remains more curious than judgmental about that, focusing more on how social worlds and certain temperaments intersect than on aligning its characters with present-day perspectives. Or, indeed, with their “fellows”: The title refers of course to the communism Sen. Joseph McCarthy was busily rooting out, but winks at his rumored homosexuality, too. While introducing the Lavender Scare, the show is admirably casual in its treatment of McCarthy’s alleged preferences and those of his chief counsel, Roy Cohn. There is no particular expectation (in ways that feel true for the period) that theory match practice.

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This isn’t, in that sense, a bossy show.

The same can’t be said for the limited series’s protagonist, Hawkins Fuller (Matt Bomer), an assertive gay man closeted by necessity while he works for the State Department in the 1950s (and who remains closeted long after it was strictly necessary). A charismatic careerist at the department, “Hawk,” who’s casual about assignations, unencumbered by guilt or shame and uninterested in relationships, fixates on Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey) at a party celebrating Dwight D. Eisenhower’s election. Laughlin — whose beverage of choice is milk — is nervy and idealistic. His passions include Catholicism, rooting out the communist menace and, soon, Hawkins himself — after the latter gets him a job working for McCarthy, seduces him and makes him slink away in the middle of the night so they don’t get caught.

Laughlin, who suffers moral agonies trying to reconcile his sexuality with his faith, is the show’s center. His sincerity and ideological passion — which shifts over the course of life from anti-communism to progressive causes, making him an immensely sympathetic, confused and thoroughly recognizable type — anchor a relationship that is structurally unequal. Hawk’s dominance is rendered erotically as well as professionally through sexual positions, dirty talk, loaded condescension and underhanded asks. Brazenly unconflicted by moral considerations, he makes Laughlin report back to him on McCarthy’s activities and eventually marries the right woman for his career.

Cads aren’t new. And Bomer (to his credit) saves Hawk from coming across as beyond redemption, despite many pretty shocking betrayals. These are not, in the main, sexual. Though we frequently see Hawk with other partners, it isn’t a problem (as framed) that, in this love story, only one party finds sexual connection to be spiritual connection, too. The sex that Tim and Hawk have becomes notable, therefore, for how hot it is, how programmatically it changes to reflect their evolving relationship and for how poorly it captures what they mean to each other.

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What most satisfies here is the unpredictable way these men’s stories develop across all that history. Tim increases in stridency and strength as Hawk’s understanding of himself as pragmatic and sharklike starts to crumble under the increasingly real pull of his “fake” attachments (to his wife, played with stoic reserve by Allison Williams; to his children; and to Tim).

This is rich stuff. Cads aren’t interesting, but the points at which their caddishness gets punctured can be, and Bomer renders Hawk’s louche confidence — and peculiar desire for respectability — as variously compelling, fragile and pathetic. Bailey, whom I last saw playing Anthony in the second season of “Bridgerton,” is sensational (and unrecognizable) here. He plays Tim with an irritable intelligence at odds with his submissiveness, governed by moral compulsions that sometimes become downright inquisitorial. As a perennial outsider, Tim becomes the lens through which we see various versions of queer community: their secrecy, their beautiful appeal, their utopian aspects and, sometimes, their monstrousness. It is a strange and surprising pleasure to watch this character evolve.

The show boasts a strong supporting cast, including Jelani Alladin as Marcus Hooks, a Black gay journalist struggling to serve both his communities, and Noah J. Ricketts as Frankie Hines, a drag queen who eventually becomes an activist. Their journey toward communal struggle — and protest, and action — takes place against the backdrop of Harvey Milk’s assassination.

The series’s greatest achievement is its commitment to its characters as characters — dwelling gently on their peculiarities and inconsistencies and never letting them become allegories for larger struggles. I want to be clear: “Fellow Travelers” is extremely interested in the politics of the periods it covers. Fascinating details emerge during the Lavender Scare period of the show, for example, when the government was rooting out employees suspected of homosexuality. Several characters get the works: lie detectors, searches, interrogations and peculiar tests including one where subjects were asked to read passages from “Of Human Bondage.”

But the show’s loyalties are clear. It takes Tim a much longer time than it should to disavow Joseph McCarthy. Doesn’t matter. Even when they’re wrong — and this feels correct, because that’s what so much of love is, right? — the series sticks to Tim and Hawk.

Fellow Travelers premieres on Paramount Plus with Showtime Oct. 27, with subsequent episodes airing weekly. It will debut on Showtime Oct. 29.

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fellow traveller guardian review

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Fellow Traveller

Where to watch

Fellow traveller.

1989 Directed by Philip Saville

In the Golden Age of Hollywood, two men had it all; one was a top screenwriter, the other a film idol. But when the witch hunts of McCarthyism swept into Tinseltown, it drove one out of the country and the other to suicide.

Ron Silver Imogen Stubbs Daniel J. Travanti Hart Bochner Katherine Borowitz Alexander Hanson Jonathan Hyde John Labanowski Peter Corey Briony McRoberts Doreen Mantle Julian Fellowes Richard Wilson Roger Hammond Allan Mitchell David O'Hara Angus MacInnes Nicholas Jones Trevor Cooper Robin Hooper Guy Manning Margaret Stallard Michael Stainton Cheryl Moskowitz Mac McDonald Daniel Heuman Sarah Trigger Gavin Kestin Eric C. Toll Show All… Adriana Solorzano

Director Director

Philip Saville

Writer Writer

Michael Eaton

Releases by Date

29 sep 1989, releases by country.

91 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Mark Cunliffe 🇵🇸

Review by Mark Cunliffe 🇵🇸 ★★★ 5

I came to this 1989 Screen Two with something of a misconception. I expected this to be the story of how US writers, blacklisted during the McCarthy witch-hunts and exiled in the UK, came to write the story of one of their adopted country's most enduring and profound folk heroes, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and the parallels that were drawn from those ancient tales with the dream of socialism that they kept in their hearts.

To that end, I expected I guess a kind of Road to Coronation Street or An Adventure in Space and Time, a behind the scenes, nostalgic look at the creation of a TV classic. I'm glad I didn't get it to be honest. Because…

Fint

Review by Fint ★★★

The subject-matter (ex-pat American Communists scraping a living making pseudonymous contributions to British film and television in the 1950s) is fascinating and under-explored, but although Fellow Traveller starts promisingly, it eventually descends into laboured dream sequences complete with dodgy psychoanalysis, and trite and lengthy sequences from the Robin Hood TV series that our hero is writing. It's not a waste of your time but I wanted it to be so much better and this story is yet to be successfully told on film.

George White

Review by George White 3

Interesting film that despite being a BBC coproduction shot mostly in UKwith a lot of familiar Rentayanks, feels almost Canadian with its NTSC smear. Also, Hart Bochner's a Canuck. But it'd make a good double feature with An Adventure in Space and Time, or at least the Silver contingent, because it's about the making of essentially the ADventures of Robin Hood, it's hinted to be a BBC production, and it could for all intent be the Troughton series, but then you see the set and the lead actor is a Richard Greene doppelganger, and Jonathan Hyde is channelling Alan Wheatley, (who is a link between AAISAT and this, via the Daleks) EDIT:turns out it is for ITV, and it is basically the Richard Greene show but with a male showrunner. The Lime Grove bit is Fellowes' character working for the Beeb, before he moves. Thanks Mark Cunliffe.

ContraCosta

Review by ContraCosta ★★★

Couldnt pass up the opportunity to be the only letterboxd review for a movie widely available on HBO streaming.

It doesnt really succeed as a thriller or drama, but it does convincingly put you into the very interesting world of the Hollywood blacklist era. The constant cutting between show-within-a-film and multiple timelines can get a bit jarring though. The lead actors performance is also pretty good, as is the score.

Joe.

Review by Joe. ★★★

Fellow Traveller is my nerd shit, an exploration of McCarthyism and an American writer in London trying to get work whilst blacklisted in his own country, only for his plan to unravel after his friend in LA, the famous movie star Clifford Byrne shoots himself in his own swimming pool. After an explosive, very-well edited and shot, darkly comedic opening seven minutes, the film gears you up for a twisty, atmospheric Ven diagram of cultural history and entertaining thriller…which never really comes.

Part of that is its scope: the film wants to explore a lot of pretty interesting aspects of the period and some (such as presenting the - Jewish - protagonist’s time in England in very much the style…

Maddy Walock

Review by Maddy Walock ★★½

Almost a three star film. Has potential to be better though, just weak in depth and background. I did enjoy the main three casted.

Sean ash

Review by Sean ash ★★★

Ron Silver carrying this movie on his back.. he does it so well!

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Fellow Travelers Review: Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey Ignite the Screen

A stellar cast and high drama fuel this engaging McCarthy-era political drama about a secret gay love affair.

Between Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey, steamy romance scenes, and a story of forbidden love in McCarthy-era Washington, Fellow Travelers is bound to generate plenty of buzz. The absorbing new limited series , which hits Paramount+ and Showtime this weekend, blends an epic love story with a Washington DC political thriller to present a compelling drama about a secret romance between two very different men. You’ll quickly forgive some of the soapy melodrama that accompanies this outing because Bomer and Bailey electrify the screen, turning exceptional performances in a drama that is worthy of our attention. And the eyes of Emmy voters, perhaps.

Created by Oscar nominee Ron Nyswaner ( Philadelphia, Homeland ), the series is based on the novel by Thomas Mallon. Bomer plays Hawkins Fuller, a Washington DC influencer who operates behind the scenes in the political arena. Hawkins/Hawk has money, verve, and thick emotional walls. He’s not one to let down his defenses. Tim Laughlin (Bailey) tries to change that. Tim is younger, an idealist, and questioning his faith. Sparks fly — the good kind — and the two begin a romance just as Sen. Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn declare war on “subversives and sexual deviants.” Everything seems set against Hawk and Tim.

Fellow Travelers wins points for its powerful acting, the way it illuminates one of the darkest periods in 20th-century American history, and for delivering a kind of love story audiences can get invested in over the course of eight episodes.

Capturing the Era

Matt Bomer has been audience favorite for some time with roles in Magic Mike, Echoes, The Normal Heart, and American Horror Story. Jonathan Bailey may be best known for his breakout performance in Bridgerton. Together, these actors offer tour de force performances in a historical drama that begins deep in the heart of the 1950s. Visually and creatively, the limited series hits the mark, creating a compelling story in a high-stakes backdrop. It soon expands decades out, then floats between various decades.

The crux of the tale is the evolution of Hawk and Tim’s intense relationship, which is filled with a bevy of emotional highs and lows as the two men attempt to come to terms with who they really are—to themselves and to each other. Hawk is controlling and guarded; Tim open-minded and curious. Bomer and Bailey breathe life into these characters with such beauty and believability that it becomes easy just lose yourself in this experience. That’s a fine feat for actors, and you may have to think a bit to recall recent on-screen couples who captured your interest as much as these two characters do here.

Best Movies About Unrequited Love

Hawk’s cocksure demeanor affords him a nice lifestyle. He’s tight with a well-known senator, Wesley Smith (Linus Roache), and seems destined to marry the man’s (very 1950s) daughter Lucy (Allison Williams of M3GAN ) . This doesn’t much faze Hawk, although it should, considering his list of discreet sexual encounters with men continues to grow. In his eyes, he’s effectively balancing two very different worlds, attempting to get his needs met in each arena.

Tim—dripping in Catholic sweetness—wants to help Sen. McCarthy (Chris Bauer) thwart off the Soviets and communism. Internally, he’s at battle. He’s gay. He knows it. But everything he’s been taught tells him gay acts are mortal sins. But he can’t escape Hawk’s charm. Or force. Their passion is visceral. So are some of their love scenes here. Revealing and well executed scenes and sexually charged all the way. Kudos to that. It also adds another level of believability to the couple's attraction.

Exploring a Hidden Love Story

Hawk soon nicknames Tim “Skippy” and manages to get him a job in McCarthy’s lair where Tim witnesses the dysfunctional dynamics between the senator and his lawyer Roy Cohn (Will Brill), who begin their rampage on “un-American” activities. It’s off-putting for Tim as the job feeds the careerist aspect of his life, yet demonizes another — his queer identity . Watching the shocking attacks on individuals fuels a horrible dread within Tim. But from that, a sick allure; Hawk and Tim can’t escape their attraction to each other.

As the two men keep things on the “down low,” emotions fly. At several points throughout the series, Tim confronts Hawk about their true feelings for one another, but Hawk can’t even utter the word “love.” On it goes, but Fellow Travelers doesn’t remain so hyper-focused on Hawk and Tim’s relationship. The series acts as a kind of history lesson, too, offering its own unique creative spin.

Some of the Greatest Gay Love Stories in Movies

It may begin as a 1950s witch hunt for any workers involved in “questionable” activities, thereby making them a national security risk, but there's more here than that. Fellow Travelers is also a story that moves us across the decades and through the evolution of civil rights , ultimately landing on the onset of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. The opening episode, in fact, begins in 1986, effectively introducing Hawk and Tim’s relationship, before flashing back and forth between timelines. All this works well, yet take note: Fellow Travelers hits high marks in its early episodes, then trips slightly over melodrama midway through, only to rise high in its last entries.

The Acting in Fellow Travelers

Matt Bomer has turned heads before in LGBTQ-themed outings , such as The Normal Heart and The Boys in the Band. The actor’s performance in Fellow Travelers is powerful . The actor completely loses himself into the role of Hawk. There are several emotionally rich scenes in the latter episodes that are among Bomer’s finest throughout his career.

But Jonathan Bailey steals the show here. Bailey is a likable actor all around, but he offers rawness and vulnerability here that is mesmerizing. We all know somebody like Tim. In some ways, we are Tim—idealistic, hopeful, curious, and wondering how to be a better human. The series gives Bailey plenty to nosh on that front, creatively moving the actor's beleaguered figure through the decades—queerness, patriotism, faith, dysfunctional bonds, civil rights. The last two episodes will leave you breathless. (Have a tissue handy.) The man is that good.

The supporting cast is solid. Jelani Alladin ( tick, tick... BOOM! ) stands out as a Black journalist who befriends both Hawk and Tim. Erin Neufer and Gabbi Kosmidis bring a sense of urgency to their roles, playing two lesbians in the 1950s. Allison Williams does enough with what initially appears to be a limited role as Hawk’s wife, Lucy, but she will surprise you in those final episodes. Chris Bauer and Will Brill are a perfect duo as McCarthy and Cohn, respectively. They know how to pour on the slime.

Overall, Fellow Travelers is a winner. Despite its brief creative dips, the limited series is as sexy and fierce as it is raw and emotionally charged. Led by its dynamic two leading men, put this one on your must-watch list.

Fellow Travelers premieres on Paramount+ on October 27 and Showtime on October 29. You can check out the trailer below:

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Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey’s ‘Fellow Travelers’ Entwines an Erotic Love Affair With a Sharp Historical Epic: TV Review 

By Aramide Tinubu

Aramide Tinubu

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(L-R): Matt Bomer as Hawkins "Hawk" Fuller and Jonathan Bailey as Tim in FELLOW TRAVELERS, "Hit Me.” Photo Credit: Ben Mark Holzberg/SHOWTIME.

A complex, intimate, captivating and visually stunning portrait of anguish and desire, “Fellow Travelers” is an expansive tale set primarily at the height of the U.S. government’s war on communists, “subversives” and “sexual deviants” and ending amid the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. What begins as a helpless attraction and intense lust transforms into a lifetime of longing that never has a chance at a happy ending.

“Fellow Travelers” opens in 1986. Marcus Hooks (Jelani Alladin), a friend of Hawk’s, arrives at the Fuller family home to drop off a package and a message. As the men speak inside Hawk’s study, the barbecue outside becomes muffled, then fades completely. The viewer is transported to 1952 and dropped in the middle of an election party for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the event where Hawk and Tim initially cross paths. Immediately taken by Tim’s adorable naiveté, enthusiasm and enjoyment of milk, Hawk, who arms himself with his war medals and charm, quickly draws Tim into a sexual relationship. Though Tim is eager and determined to please the war hero, the reserved and aloof Hawk is shocked to find himself emotionally attracted to the tenderhearted young man.

More than a laser-focused examination of Tim and Hawk’s experiences, the show expands outward. “Fellow Travelers” showcases Marcus, a closeted Black man working in journalism in the ’50s, and his lover Frankie Hines (Noah J. Ricketts), a graceful and dynamic drag queen who is clear about who he is. Their stories offer a perspective that is layered with homophobia and racism but also unveils the multicultural gender-bending underground world of the mid-20th century, one not often depicted on the big or small screens. Meanwhile, the women orbiting this world, including Hawk’s secretary, Mary Johnson (Erin Neufer), and his wife, Lucy Smith (Allison Williams), provide the viewpoints of people determined to experience a certain kind of existence, even if they have to pay the hefty price of pretending.

While the majority of “Fellow Travelers” is exceptional, Episode 6, titled “Beyond Measure” and set in 1968, feels like a mismatched puzzle piece. Despite the year’s turbulent events, the episode only touches briefly on the horrors of the Vietnam War and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Additionally, the 11-year jump between the fifth and sixth chapters is strongly felt, throwing off the tone and pace of the show. There’s an awkwardness in Hawk and Tim’s interactions that wasn’t present previously. The audience feels the men’s unease toward each other, causing the hour to drag instead of moving sharply along as in previous chapters. Still, by the penultimate episode, “White Knight,” and through the series finale, “Make It Easy,” the narrative rights itself. No longer subjected to the prying eyes of Washington and with the country and society in a very different place from the “values”-obsessed 1950s, Tim and Hawk are forced to face each other and themselves, as well as the devastating lies and truths they’ve told to endure.

The inherent heaviness of “Fellow Travelers” is alleviated by Bomer and Bailey’s electric chemistry. Hawk and Tim’s relationship shifts over the decades, but their erotic intimacy and attraction reverberate off the screen, showcasing a euphoric and profoundly moving connection despite its flaws. The historical drama moves well beyond the physical, forcing the viewer to look not just at some of the most atrocious moments in American history but at ourselves and the people who put our souls at ease. The inhumanity of others has no bearing on how we treat ourselves, the memories we carry or how we choose to live our lives. “Fellow Travelers” is a reminder of the cost of freedom and an homage to those who have sacrificed so that our lives might be free of shame and humiliation.

“Fellow Travelers” premieres on Paramount+ Oct. 26. The series will debut on SHOWTIME Oct. 29, premiering weekly on Sundays .

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Fellow Traveller Reviews

fellow traveller guardian review

A savvy British political drama.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jun 24, 2015

IMAGES

  1. Fellow Traveller

    fellow traveller guardian review

  2. ‎Fellow Traveller (1989) directed by Philip Saville • Reviews, film

    fellow traveller guardian review

  3. Fellow Travellers is the queer political thriller coming soon

    fellow traveller guardian review

  4. Fellow Traveller

    fellow traveller guardian review

  5. Fellow Traveller

    fellow traveller guardian review

  6. „Fellow Travelers” o gejowskiej miłości w trudnych czasach

    fellow traveller guardian review

VIDEO

  1. Fellow Travelers Director Breaks Down THAT Scene

  2. "Fellow Travelers" Season 1 Episode 1

  3. Fellow Travelers Season 1 SPOILER FREE Review

  4. The fellow traveller by A.G.Gardiner

  5. Fellow Travelers Official Sneak Preview

  6. Fellow Travellers

COMMENTS

  1. Fellow Travelers to All the Light We Cannot See: the ...

    Fellow Travelers The era of Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist purges was characterised by paranoia, betrayal and secrets. This slick drama explores what was arguably the most dangerous ...

  2. Fellow Travelers movie review (2023)

    This brief moment sparks both parties' decades-long pursuit of love and belonging. Adapted from the 2007 novel of the same name, "Fellow Travelers" truly begins once the show turns back the clock and focuses on Tim and Hawkins' initial meeting. From there, it becomes clear how different Hawk's life in the 1950s is from his life in the ...

  3. Fellow Traveller 1989, directed by Philip Saville

    As scripted by Michael Eaton, this McCarthy-period thriller interweaves numerous themes: guilt, confession and repression; privacy, paranoia and betrayal; the difference between America and ...

  4. Fellow Traveller

    But his world is rocked again when he hears that his friend, actor Clifford Byrne (Hart Bochner), has killed himself back in the States. Kaufman suspects the death is somehow related to McCarthy's ...

  5. Review: Excellent 'Fellow Travelers' Traces a Forbidden Love

    Fellow Travelers doesn't preach liberation. In its most romantic moments, the show does better: it embodies liberation. So much so that Nyswaner almost earns his jarringly sentimental ending. (You ...

  6. Fellow Travelers reviews: Critics weigh in on Showtime ...

    The eight-episode series is a hit with critics, holding fresh at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Read our full review-round-up below. SEE Showtime drops official trailer for eight-part limited series ...

  7. Fellow Traveller

    Fellow Traveller has the rare distinction of being a British film that actually looks international. Helmer Philip Saville shows a big-screen feel with the story of a blacklisted Hollywood screen ...

  8. 'Fellow Travelers' Is an Unwieldy Gay History Lesson

    The new mini-series Fellow Travelers (Showtime, October 29) brings the latter era to the foreground, as two men begin an affair while perilously close to, well, the sinister ministrations of Roy Cohn.

  9. Fellow Travelers: Limited Series

    Rated 4/5 Stars • 01/13/24. Based on the 2007 fictional novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon, "Fellow Travelers" follows the paths of political staffers Hawkins Fuller and Tim Laughlin, whose ...

  10. 'Fellow Travelers' Review: Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey Bring the

    Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey in 'Fellow Travelers' | Showtime. While the story, at times, grows a bit prosaic, trudging through highly-traversed historical waters, Bomer and Bailey elevate the slow-moving script, as their chemistry oozes out of their pores with both an erotic intensity and romantic tenderness.

  11. To Make 'Fellow Travelers,' Ron Nyswaner Had to Fall in Love

    Moving back and forth from the early 1950s to the late '80s, "Fellow Travelers," based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon, is a précis of 20th-century queer history viewed ...

  12. Fellow Travelers

    Fellow Travelers feels pre-digested and lacking flavour. The storyline is screamingly predictable, the characters' responses equally so. There are many raunchy sex scenes, but the sum of these defines **** men as sex addicts who never have time to talk, think or communicate, except through their bodies.

  13. Fellow Traveller' review by Mark Cunliffe

    Fellow Traveller is not however the story of Hannah Weinstein. Instead, it depicts the Robin Hood TV series as the brainchild of a blacklisted man, Asa Kaufman (Ron Silver). As realisation dawned, my heart sunk that yet another dramatisation was airbrushing women out of their place in history. But then it became apparent that this was a work of ...

  14. 'Fellow Travelers' delivers epic, steamy, bittersweet love

    "Fellow Travelers," Showtime's steamy, bittersweet series about two men in love, covers an extraordinary amount of historical ground — including the Lavender Scare, the Vietnam War and the ...

  15. Fellow Traveller

    As scripted by Michael Eaton, this McCarthy-period thriller interweaves numerous themes: guilt, confession and repression; privacy, paranoia and betrayal; the difference between America and ...

  16. ‎Fellow Traveller (1989) directed by Philip Saville • Reviews, film

    The subject-matter (ex-pat American Communists scraping a living making pseudonymous contributions to British film and television in the 1950s) is fascinating and under-explored, but although Fellow Traveller starts promisingly, it eventually descends into laboured dream sequences complete with dodgy psychoanalysis, and trite and lengthy sequences from the Robin Hood TV series that our hero is ...

  17. Fellow Travelers Review: Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey ...

    Fellow Travelers is also a story that moves us across the decades and through the evolution of civil rights, ultimately landing on the onset of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. The opening episode ...

  18. Review/Television; Flight From McCarthyism In Film by HBO and BBC

    The new made-for-cable movie ''Fellow Traveler'' carries some significant credits: It was produced by Home Box Office and the BBC in association with the British Film Institute.

  19. 'Fellow Travelers' Review: Showtime's Steamy Romance Strikes a Chord

    Jelani Alladin and Noah J. Ricketts in "Fellow Travelers" Ben Mark Holzberg / Showtime. That fateful election night, when Hawk is bowled over by Tim, he's not merely struck by the new kid in ...

  20. 'Fellow Travelers' Review: Matt Bomer in Showtime's Epic Gay Romance

    Airdate: 9 p.m. Sunday, October 29 (Showtime) Cast: Matthew Bomer, Jonathan Bailey, Allison Williams, Jelani Alladin, Noah J. Ricketts. Creator: Ron Nyswaner. Ron Nyswaner's Showtime limited ...

  21. 'Fellow Travelers' Review: Jonathan Bailey, Matt Bomer ...

    Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey's 'Fellow Travelers' Entwines an Erotic Love Affair With a Sharp Historical Epic: TV Review. Circumstances throughout history have forced people to hide ...

  22. Fellow Travelers Review: Jonathan Bailey Shines

    Fellow Travelers isn't always a particularly easy watch—it's a love story, to be sure, but it's also a tragedy, a story of loss and regret and what-ifs that serves as a necessary reminder ...

  23. Fellow Traveller

    Fellow Traveller Reviews. All Critics. Top Critics. All Audience. Verified Audience. Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews. A savvy British political drama. Full Review | Original Score: B ...

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