Hulu’s <i>Harlots</i> Takes a Modern View of 18th-Century Sex Work
Starring Samantha Morton and Jessica Brown Findlay, the series has a surprisingly sharp perspective on the dynamics of pleasure and power.
In 1763 London, baldly reveals in its opening scene, one in five women made a living by selling sex. It’s a provocative statistic that—coupled with images of petticoats trailing in the filthy streets and corseted bosoms thrust skyward—sets the series up to be a genially bawdy historical drama. But a co-production with ITV that debuts on Hulu Wednesday,is something more complex. Created by Alison Newman and Moira Buffini, it takes an unflinchingly clear-eyed look at the
