I’ve brought it to my own attention how, in the eight years 18 Cinema Lane has existed, I have never reviewed any program from PBS Masterpiece. While I have brought up Miss Scarlet in the past, I didn’t review any episodes of the show. So, I chose to write about the mini-series, Small Island, with one reason being to make up for lost time. The other reason is because I wanted to write about one of the projects from Naomie Harris’ filmography, in honor of her birthday. Five years ago, when I created a post about The We Heart Pirates Week Tag, I mentioned how Calypso/Tia Dalma is my favorite character from a pirate movie. I explained Naomie’s portrayal of Calypso/Tia Dalma is one of the reasons why Calypso/Tia Dalma is a favorite character of mine. To show my gratitude as a fan, I checked out Small Island, especially since I have been meaning to see this mini-series for several years. As I just mentioned in this introduction, Small Island is a mini-series. Yet, on IMDB, the official run-time is an hour and thirty minutes, which is the typical run-time of a television movie. Therefore, I will refer to Small Island as a film/mini-series or a movie/mini-series for the sake of this review.

Things I liked about the film/mini-series:

The acting: Whether in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, the Jame Bond franchise, or in Small Island, Naomie Harris goes above and beyond when it comes to her performance. This is achieved due to how fluid her acting abilities are. That fluidity allowed her portrayal of Hortense Roberts, as well as the story surrounding Hortense, to be compelling. A great example is when Hortense receives a letter after class. As she’s reading the letter in question, Hortense is excited to hear word about a man she cares about named Michael. Her eyes light up with joy and her mouth is presented in a smile. But while she’s reading the letter, Hortense realizes it contains some troubling news. This causes Hortense to turn her mouth in a slight frown and her eyes to appear worried. But Hortense quickly goes back to looking happy, giving a brave face to the woman who gave Hortense the letter. The aforementioned fluidity of Naomie’s performance helped Hortense’s transition between emotions appear seamless!

While I’m still on the subject of Naomie’s performance, I want to talk about her on-screen chemistry with David Oyelowo! In Small Island, David portrays Hortense’s husband, Gilbert Joseph. The strength of Naomie’s and David’s acting abilities effectively showcased Hortense and Gilbert’s relationship blossoming over the course of the film/mini-series. One of their best scenes together takes place after Hortense encounters a setback. After being told her teaching qualifications from Jamaica aren’t eligible in the United Kingdom, Hortense tearfully explains her dilemma to Gilbert. She even confesses how she mistook a storage closet for an exit. With a smile on his face and jovial demeanor, Gilbert points out how disorganized the storage closet was as Hortense describes what she saw in it. As their conversation continues, Gilbert makes Hortense feel better when he suggests they face their problems like the British do: drink tea. This scene is a perfect example of how Hortense and Gilbert brought out the best in each other, with Naomie’s and David’s acting talents successfully presenting that idea in Small Island!

Another strong performance in Small Island came from Ruth Wilson! Her portrayal of Queenie Bligh was captivating due to her strong adaptability. In one great example, Queenie is distraught over the passing of her aunt, Dorothy. At Dorothy’s funeral reception, Queenie’s mother questions what her daughter’s future will look like. This questioning causes Queenie to adopt an overwhelming sense of anxiety in her eyes. But when Bernard (portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch) confidently proclaims he and Queenie will soon get married, Barnard’s confidence rubs off on Queenie. She then carries herself confidently as well, complete with her eyes displaying a look of determination. Similar to what I said about Naomie’s performance, Ruth’s performance in Small Island helped make Queenie’s part of the story engaging because of how seamless transitions between emotions were!

Historical accuracy: Even though I haven’t seen many programs from PBS Masterpiece, the ones I have seen have showcased historical accuracy as one of their major strengths. Small Island contributes to that strength, as the creative team behind the movie/mini-series prioritized how their production looked and felt. I’ve brought up before on 18 Cinema Lane the idea of “illusion of immersion”. One of the ways this idea is achieved, as demonstrated within Small Island, is the attention to detail. Dainty lace gloves and simple, yet elegant, pearl necklaces within Hortense’s wardrobe emphasize the conservative style women embraced in the 1940s. The shape of milk bottles reminds the audience how families in the ‘40s had milk delivered to their homes. Even the colors and fonts on items such as a box of cereal or a postcard help viewers feel transported to another time and place. Though the details I mentioned were small, the creative team’s efforts to make them and everything surrounding them appear historically accurate shows the care they placed into Small Island.

Use of piano music: Because this detail is smaller compared to other strengths in Small Island, I wanted to point it out so it didn’t become overlooked. In some scenes, the use of piano music not only emotionally elevated a given scene, it also made the scene itself feel more complete. When Hortense leaves home in order to attend college, the moment is intended to be sad, as Hortense departs from the place where she grew up. Playing over that scene is piano music with a touch of sadness woven through it, emphasizing the feelings Hortense is experiencing without utilizing dialogue. Later in Small Island, Queenie and Michael (the same Michael I referenced earlier in this review) share a discussion about hummingbirds. As Michael describes a hummingbird to Queenie, soft piano music can be heard. The gentleness of the music actually compliments the gentle nature of hummingbirds. It also highlights the tenderness shared between Queenie and Michael.

What I didn’t like about the film/mini-series:

The underutilization of Benedict Cumberbatch: Like I mentioned earlier in this review, Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Bernard, a man who desires to marry Queenie. In fact, Benedict is one of the top billed actors in Small Island. This detail led me to believe his acting talents would be utilized to their fullest extent. But throughout the hour and thirty-minute presentation, Benedict only appeared in a handful of scenes. Contextually speaking, I understand why he was in the film/mini-series for a shorter amount of time. But as someone who has only seen Benedict’s performances in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, I was disappointed to see Benedict and his acting talents underutilized.

Scene transitions feeling contextually and emotionally abrupt: Small Island juggles the stories of five key characters. The script bounces between the past and present in order to explain how these characters’ paths cross. But sometimes, mostly in the first half of Small Island, the transition between scenes felt contextually and emotionally abrupt, partly due to the abundance of stories. In the scene I brought up earlier in this review, where Hortense receives a letter about Michael’s whereabouts, the scene ends with Hortense screaming and sobbing over the potential fate of Michael. The next scene shows Gilbert and Queenie sharing tea while waiting for Queenie’s father-in-law, Arthur, to show up. This scene between Queenie and Gilbert is more emotionally light than Hortense’s scene, with very little time for the audience to sit with the characters’ emotions. Even though Small Island utilizes on-screen text and a voice-over, these resources weren’t consistently used in the movie/mini-series. If they had, some moments wouldn’t feel emotionally jarring and a bit confusing.

Competing stories in the first half: When I just talked about scene transitions feeling contextually and emotionally abrupt in Small Island, I brought up how the script bounces between the past and present in order to explain how the characters’ paths cross. Two interconnecting stories are Queenie’s and Hortense’s. The dream Hortense works toward of becoming a teacher in England provided an engaging story for her. Meanwhile, Queenie’s decision to “seize the day” also gave her an interesting story. But Hortense and Queenie spend the majority of Small Island’s first half carrying on separate stories, not really crossing paths until the second half. This creative decision made Queenie’s and Hortense’s story feel like they competed against one another for screen time, especially since Small Island only had an hour and thirty-minutes (not to mention split into two parts) to tell their story. As I watched Small Island, I sometimes found myself wondering why the movie/mini-series wasn’t just about Hortense’s story. This is because I initially believed Hortense’s and Queenie’s story were strong enough to stand on their own. However, when Queenie’s and Hortense’s path intertwines, their stories become more complimentary of one another.

My overall impression:

2026 has become one of the best years for movies on 18 Cinema Lane. This is because I’ve seen more movies I’ve enjoyed than not. Small Island is one of the titles that has contributed to 2026 being a good year, as it is a film/mini-series that got better the longer I watched it! Like other PBS Masterpiece programs I’ve seen, the historical accuracy in Small Island successfully achieved the illusion of immersion due to the care placed in attention to detail. The acting also helped Small Island become an entertaining presentation. Even creative decisions like the use of piano music showcased how the creative team put genuine effort into how their production looked, felt, and sounded. However, there were flaws that held Small Island back from being a stronger picture. Some scene transitions felt contextually and emotionally abrupt. I also didn’t like how Benedict Cumberbatch’s acting talents were underutilized. It didn’t help as well how, in the first half of Small Island, Hortense’s and Queenie’s story felt more competitive than complimentary. But despite these flaws, I would recommend Small Island, especially if you want to check out more projects from PBS Masterpiece and/or Naomie Harris’ filmography!

Overall score: 7.6 out of 10

Have you seen Small Island? Are there any titles from PBS Masterpiece you’d like to see? Let me know in the comment section below!

Have fun at the movies!

Sally Silverscreen