Though it's visibly one of the most visually arresting episodes in Guillermo Del Toro's new Netflix anthology series so far, like most other things filmmaker Panos Cosmatos has previously directed in his career, the impressiveness of his signature style in "The Viewing" is somewhat hampered by the fact that it's unbearably boring; torturously slow, I found myself genuinely struggling to stay awake for the entirety of this story's duration because the glacial pace at which it progresses does seem to lure you in to a constant sense of enticing sleep.
Even whilst typing this review, I feel as though I'm still stubbornly fighting off the relentless urge (it's instilled) to close my eyes for a few hours because it's induced such a strong sense of fatigue, during the unending viewing experience.
As for the story itself, the idea it chooses to depict is not entirely original, nor is it (manifestly) particularly interesting either; the concept is fairly basic (a classic horror trope that's been done many times before) & this iteration of it is rather underdeveloped but the feature is so enamoured with simply lingering in the general "vibe" of the piece - brooding in the psychedelic atmosphere - it hardly seems to register that it should probably be doing more than simply that in order to entertain the audiences.
Consequently, although aesthetically it's gorgeous to look at (boasting really quirky production design & cinematography etc.), these accomplishments do not - in the slightest bit - negate the sheer monotony endured from beginning to end, though I sincerely wish they had.