Good concept, poorly executed.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Love the Cathars, would be happy to have one for a neighbour. The concept of liberal Christians that believed in equality for all, accumulation of wealth was bad, sex was healthy and believed in reincarnation is very interesting. The fact that, in the 12/13th century, philosophically they were kicking the roman catholic churches butt says a lot. Tying that in with the holy grail and mixing it in with factual historical references gave this mini series a lot of scope. The reference to carrying our past with us in our blood is very reminiscent of Frank Herbert's Dune and the inference of a genetic memory.However, the heavy handedness of the direction and use of cliché characters and tropes that did not make sense left me squirming in my seat. Especially in part 1 and the end of part II in the medieval period it felt as if the Cathars had some rabid twitter account saying "Dear bad guys guys want to know all our secrets?....". Yes we know it's the good guys against the bad guys but how come the bad guys seem to know more about what their counterparts are doing than they do? Damn you twitter account!!! Speaking of which, I felt sorry for Katie McGrath who portrayed a cardboard cut out of her Morgana character in the Merlin series. She's a good looking woman and a fine actress but did she seriously have to lose her clothes so often? She was only one of many flat characters with trite dialogue. There is one scene where she can see someone shake his head in response to a question she asks when she is looking away from him. At this point I was also shaking my head as the dialogue/monologue leading up to this point felt like a quick fix to try to explain her motivation for being such a nasty piece of work and failing miserably.When it came to the end it felt that I had only seen half the production. It felt as if a whole group of scenes had been cut out and re-spliced leaving me trying to figure how we got to F from A without B, C, D and E. If I'm being kind I would like to think that due to external pressures that a real cracker of a production is out there waiting to be shown at a future date.As it was I found myself just becoming more frustrated as things made less and less sense. Even the role of the grail in the end becomes diminished except potentially as lesson teacher to humanity.On the plus side Jessica Brown Findlay playing the medieval heroine was the closest to a fully formed character in the whole story and I'd like to see her in more roles. Production was good especially in the medieval scenes and the filming felt clean and slick. I now feel enlightened as I've had a chance to meet the Cathars, not to be confused with the Kardashians. Giving it 5 out of 10 as I feel like I only saw half of what could have been.

Still a little amazed!!Loved it!!! I usually skip out on serious shows,at least the kind which is this serious and slightly gory and historical but this!!Gosh,this was perfect.I haven't watched any of the versions but this was mind-blowing mainly because of the characters.I'll admit,Tom Felton was what drew me to this initially but every character here is just...no words to describe because nothing seemed exaggerated, even the lunatics were believable! The bad guys make you hate them and the good guys make you love them,now is that good acting or not??! The main character was likable,not an ounce of Mary-Sue-ish qualities or hateful moments from my side. :D! And Alais and Guilhem's story left me in tears.And this coming from someone who so does not cry watching something. A definite 'Must watch'!

I just finished watching this and immediately came here to write about how brilliant Labyrinth is! It left me wishing it never ended. The story demands your full attention immersing you into the heart of it all. The acting leaves no room for any criticism, which is not the least bit surprising considering the great cast. Tom Felton, Jessica Brown-Findley and Emun Elliot's performances deserve recognition. The transitioning of medieval and modern times is very smoothly done. Kate Mosse's Cameo at the end only accentuates the mix of emotions built up to that point. Even though you already know the fate of the characters, you are still affected deeply and left breathless at the end of it all. Definitely a must-watch. I know I will be re-watching this many times over.

I love historical fiction especially when they are made into television shows or miniseries. The show is based on Kate Mosse's novel, Labyrinth, which involves around the holy grail. Consequently, the grail in this story is not a cup or a person, its something more supernatural. Bare in mind, I have not read the book.I honestly thought that this was going to be like World Without End, which was produced by Ridley Scott who also produced this show. The former was not a very good show. But this one was a bit better in terms of presenting the medieval world.Basically the show has two parts shown concurrently. One is set in 13th century France and the other in modern day France. In the present, the protagonist gets involve in a conspiracy regarding the grail particularly because her ancestor was a 'guardian' of the grail throughout history. In the past, the ancestor lives among the Cathars which are consequently being persecuted by the Catholic church. This ancestor tries to protect the secrets of the grail a midst an inquisition and spiteful sister.The highlight of the show has to be Tom Felton. Known from the Harry Potter series, he definitely delivered something different and positive. John Hurt was great as always. What bothered me the most was the switching from past and present. Sometimes they were extremely random. While sometimes, when something was just getting interesting, the scene changes to a different time and it can be annoying.Regardless, I thought it was an entertaining two part series. The show can be thrilling due the religious conspiracies. I can compare to the The Da Vinci Code although it has less action but more story. The story was less about finding out the 'truth' about some grail, but how people are trying to find that 'truth'.In conclusion, I would have to say this show will only interest people who like historical fiction, religious conspiracies, or stuff like that. But it surely entertains.