Despite winning a Peabody Award and appearing on many critics’ top 10 lists, theSundanceTVdramaRectifynever gained a wide audience. But the series, which is available to stream onAMC+, features the strongest performance ofJ. Smith-Cameron’scareer. Smith-Cameron plays Janet Talbot, the mother of the main character, Daniel Holden (Aden Young). Daniel has been in prison since he was 18 for the rape and murder of his high school girlfriend. At the beginning of the series, new evidence comes to light that allows Daniel to be released. The show follows Daniel and his family as they adjust to Daniel’s new freedom and deal with the trauma of his 19-year imprisonment.
J. Smith-Cameron Gives a Standout Performance on ‘Rectify’
The entire cast is excellent, butJ. Smith-Cameron is the standout. As great asSmith-Cameron is onSuccession,her role onRectifytruly shows off her depth as an actress. Janet Talbot is a wildly different character thanSuccession’s Gerri Kellman. While Gerri keeps up a tough poker face even through stressful circumstances, Janet wears her vulnerability on her sleeve. Janet feels incredibly real — sometimes uncomfortably so. As empathetic as she is, sometimes there’s almost an overwhelming secondhand embarrassment at the neediness she shows as she deals with her husband and children. By the end of the series, almost every character has separately confronted Janet about her sometimes suffocating concern.
Rectifyleans towards subtlety, only employing big monologues when it’s truly been earned. J. Smith-Cameron does a great job of imbuing small moments with all of Janet’s pain. In one scene, her stepson Teddy Talbot Jr. (Clayne Crawford) walks in on Janet making a cake for Daniel. When he finds it’s not for any occasion, and she just felt like making him a cake, he says, “No law against it.” Teddy didn’t mean anything by the phrase, but Janet’s face immediately falls, and she softly says, “Hope not.” It’s a quick moment, butSmith-Cameron makes the audience feel how much Daniel’s restrictive probation is weighing on his mother.
‘Succession’: Roman and Gerri Could “Make Out in a Bar” Now, According to J. Smith Cameron
Was this the best couple in Waystar Royco?
‘Rectify’ Portrays a Marital Rough Patch With Nuance
WhileRectifydeals with weighty issues around criminal justice andthe trauma that the penal system inflictson people, it also fleshes out the characters through smaller, more everyday stories.Some of the strongest scenes involve Janet and her husband, Ted Tablot, (Bruce McKinnon), and the tensions in their marriage. The show avoids melodrama as it shows that their mostly solid relationship can also go through a rough patch.
One ofSmith-Cameron’s best scenesisJanet’s argument with Ted in the episode “Pineapples in Paris.“Janet is facing a decision about whether to sell the tire store that she owns and that Ted manages. The writing captures real-life arguments brilliantly. The audience can see how the characters are trying to tip-toe around things and show tact, and how this ends up just causing more frustration as they navigate figuring out their own feelings while also trying to figure out how the other is feeling. Smith-Cameron and McKinnon play each small step in the argument perfectly, making us understand why Ted feels like he’s walking through a minefield, but also why Janet feels upset she can’t have a discussion without putting her husband on the defensive.
If you loved Smith-Cameron onSuccession,you need to see her in this very different family drama. Her portrayal of a depressed mother who wasn’t able to protect her son from one of the worst fates imaginable is heartwrenching. Although Daniel is the main character, and Aden Young plays him brilliantly, Smith-Cameron steals every scene she’s in.
Rectifyis available to stream in the U.S. on AMC+.
Watch on AMC+
