Although it’s a story about her, it’s mostly interested in the creation of Child as a public figure, her transition from successful but invisible cookbook author into one of the most familiar faces on American TV. Julia does not focus on Child’s entire life. Here she is, delightfully human both onscreen and off. But Julia Child as presented in Julia does not need humanizing or any of the frictive strain between the stage personality and the person behind the curtains. There are brief moments of tension, and there’s the satisfying pleasure of watching a person figure something out.

For the most part, though, Julia is a warm and cozy treatment of Child, the TV equivalent of pulling a simmering pot of boeuf bourguignon out of the oven and taking it straight to the table to serve. She was remarkable, and the series enjoys showing that off. There is some of that in Julia, the new HBO Max series about the chef, author, and TV personality Julia Child. There’s a familiar undercurrent in biopic projects of legendary figures: Stories about famous athletes or politicians or movie stars need to include the darker, more personal details of their lives because biographical narratives need to humanize their subjects. The effort to loop Julia Child (played by Sarah Lancashire) into the cultural and historical context of her time makes Julia a better show than it could otherwise have been.

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