'Tree on a Hill/Pren ar y Bryn' Is a Thriller in Any Language

Everyone wants to believe they’d know how to carry out the perfect coverup, especially in today’s true-crime-obsessed world. Welsh noir drama Tree on a Hill/Pren ar y Bryn paints an absurd yet much more realistic picture of what happens when a mediocre couple gets in over their heads. A creepy yet strangely comforting tale, Tree on a Hill (not to be confused with American drama One Tree Hill) hails from the twisted (highest of compliments!) mind of Ed Thomas, co-creator of another popular Welsh-English drama, 2013’s Hinterland.

It’s set in the Welsh town of Penwyllt, where time seems to have crawled to a standstill, and every resident is perpetually on edge. Enter Margaret (Nia Roberts) and Clive (Rhodri Melir), a middle-aged couple stuck in the patterns of daily life until Margaret accidentally murders her sister Sylvia’s (Hannah Daniel) husband. Cue a mad scramble to cover up the murder while the rest of the town embarks on a slow-moving whodunit. 

Tree on a Hill/Pren ar y Bryn is a dual-language drama shot in English and Welsh, the first to make it to BritBox. It’s not a mix of English and Welsh with subtitles, but rather two versions of the same show, with the same script and edit, shot twice so each language can stand on its own. Writer Ed Thomas noted that because no characters speak Welsh in the English-language version, “it exists in a world where the Welsh language has been forgotten; it’s a memory.” The subtle uncanniness this adds to the series may be lost on most American viewers. 

Like many of its Celtic language neighbors, Welsh was in decline and at risk of going extinct in the 19th and 20th centuries due to suppression from the British government. Language activism grew with Welsh nationalism in the 1960s and 70s, with proponents finally scoring a Welsh language public television channel in 1982. (Hooray for public media!) In the years that followed, Welsh parity with English became law, and the use of the language has grown. That TV channel was S4C, which co-produced Tree on a Hill. Given the language’s history and the slight acting subtleties that come with the change in language, it’s worth watching at least a few scenes from Pren ar y Bryn, even for non-Welsh speakers.

The series is composed of lingering, strangely angled shots that would feel at home in an A24 film. If you’re in possession of a short attention span, this might take some getting used to. Luckily, the visuals are rich even in the slowest moments. The landscapes, costumes, and sets are eerie yet beautiful in their mundanity. 

The costumes are a joy to track as the characters fall into chaos. Margaret’s sister Sylvia is laughably glamorous, setting herself apart from her neighbors with fur coats and colorful gowns. Margaret’s costumes look as though All Creatures Great & Small’s Helen Alderson dumped her wardrobe on the floor and got dressed in the dark. In other words, it is equal parts delightfully and appallingly quirky grandma chic. Poor Clive spends far too much of the series in his underwear, making him seem more vulnerable and pathetic than he already is.

The plot picks up by the end of the second episode, but the show maintains its creeping and deliberate visuals. The plot and characters are so absurd that, at times, they circle back around to hyperrealism. (Let’s just say that if I ever found myself in Margaret’s situation, I would lose my wits at least as much as she does.) Though many scenes are amusing, the show rarely reaches comedy, and that’s a good thing. As goofy as the characters sometimes appear, they aren’t played for laughs and are written and acted with depth. Even Clive, constantly trembling like a chihuahua throughout the first several episodes, develops a quiet strength worth rooting for. 

The only place where the series falters is the sense of sisterhood between Margaret and Sylvia. The dynamic between Margaret and Clive is so believable and clear: a ragtag Bonnie and Clyde, their wilting romance reignited by the thrill of keeping a horrible secret. In comparison, Margaret and Sylvia seem almost like strangers to each other or, at most, friendly neighbors. Sylvia finds out far more about the crime and coverup far earlier in the series than expected, but the reveal of Margaret’s betrayal holds very little heft. 

At the core of Tree on a Hill is the malaise that comes from a lack of change and the loneliness that comes from turning in on yourself rather than growing and changing along with the people you love. On its surface, it’s an absurdist, noir romp, but not far underneath is a poignant story with characters who cry out to be remembered.

Tree on a Hill/Pren ar y Bryn is streaming now on BritBox.