Too much of everything

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Something is missing... There's a comedic element that is completely lacking and gives the entire show an unbelievable and offputting vibe.Only in the first episode, when we see the children horsing around while traveling to the cave to look for the missing child's stash of drugs, do the characters appear to have distinct and interesting personalities.From then on, a 'dark', weighty, heaviness pervades every conversation and slowly corrodes the very nature of the show itself. Everything gets progressively worse for every character, and the show itself is a steady slip into the madness of the mind of the suicidal father in the first episode.Contrast that with Stranger Things' constantly lighthearted vibe while confronting very dangerous alien demons and it's clear, BOTH shows are doing it wrong.There is a lot to love here. It is not Twin Peaks (there are no cryptic artistic random Lynchian unexplainable loose ends). It is, in my opinion, the antithesis of Stranger Things, and / or Futureman. It leaves you feeling drained and more depressed with each episode, but strangely craving more.My only true complaint is that the story progresses so slowly. They try to make it very clear who each character is in each timeline, and how they interrelate, almost to a fault. I much prefer when time travel movies and shows don't spell everything out immediately to the audience. I like having to rewatch to catch Things I missed, or reading and deconstructing what I witnessed online. Primer, and Donnie Darko come to mind.This, however is not one of those, but it's great in it's own way. The best comparison I can make is to the phenomenal movie Timecrime, with a dozen more characters.

This show fits well into the wave of skaninoir series out there, but at the same time is well separated from them by it's - for lack of a better expression - germanness.I am baffled that some people would seek parallels to a show such as Stranger Things. These two shows have nothing to do with each other. Maybe because also Stranger Things is a tale of adventure in the face of the overwhelming industrial behemoth that rips our reality apart. But other than that, Dark's strong point and fokus is really the bitterness of the human condition, particularly in a small town. It shows wonderfully, how grudges are carried over generations and how nothing that we ever do is ever a standalone action.Some of the bad reviews call out the amateurish acting. I suggest turning off the translation and listening to the original with subtitles. Also, here is a fenomenon that I have been very happy to notice over the last few years: as more and more series are shown in their original format, we realise just how much we have become used to the anglo-saxon stereotype of acting. Other culture, countries have different ways of expressing and acting and that is just a wonderful thing that our times have brought us (I think of the original "Humans", in contrast to the much inferior english version; I am also thinking of the superb "Suburra", so rich in its italian subtleties). Well done overall. Loved it.

"Dark" is a little bit different. Set in the town of Winden, it starts with the disappearance of a local boy. We soon learn this isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, many of the events taking place in Winden (missing children, birds dropping dead out of the sky) have happened before. Perhaps it's the work of a serial killer, or a cover-up at the nuclear plant - and yet, as investigations get under way, something far stranger surfaces.There are plenty of nordic feels about this show: it's mournful and quietly disturbing. Expect slow-burn tension rather than jump scares, jerky camera work or excessive gore, as well as fairytale elements to the story, characters and setting. The pace is surprisingly slow, yet it's easily bingeable, in part because of the unexpected way the story unfolds.This isn't 'background TV': you'll need to pay attention, whether or not you watch in the original German (I suggest you do). Even then, there's a lot to make sense of and reconcile - but in a very rewarding sense.If you enjoy nordic noir - especially The Killing - or Les Revenants, this is likely to be the series for you. It's about grief and the impossible - and that's quite some combination.

This is a must watch show! It can get difficult to keep up but rewatch it. Best series on Netflix yet! It is dubbed over German but it's still amazing story.