Angels in America

TV-MA

Dec, 2003

1 seasons

7.6

Angels in America is a 2003 American HBO miniseries directed by Mike Nichols and based on the Pulitzer Prize–winning 1991 play of the same name by Tony Kushner. Set in 1985, the film revolves around six New Yorkers whose lives intersect. At its core, it is the fantastical story of Prior Walter, a gay man living with AIDS who is visited by an angel. The film explores a wide variety of themes, including Reagan era politics, the spreading AIDS epidemic, and a rapidly changing social and political climate.

Cast

Current Season

Limited Series

Dec, 2003

6 episodes

8.1

Millennium Approaches (Episodes 1-3): It is 1985 and AIDS is causing mass death in USA. In Manhattan, Prior Walter tells Louis, his lover, that he has AIDS; Louis, unable to handle it, leaves him. Joe Pitt, a Mormon and Republican attorney, is pushed by right-wing fixer Roy Cohn toward a job at the US Department of Justice. Both Pitt and Cohn are in the closet: Pitt out of shame and religious turmoil, Cohn to preserve his power and image. Pitt's wife Harper is strung out on Valium, hallucinating constantly and longs to escape from her sexless marriage. An angel with ulterior motives commands Prior to become a prophet. Perestroika (Episodes 4-6): Prior is helped in his decision by Joe's mother, Hannah, and Belize, a close friend and drag queen. Joe leaves his wife and goes to live with Louis, but it does not work out because of ideological differences. Roy is diagnosed with AIDS and dying, while haunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg.