Ludik (2022) User Reviews

Disjointed storytelling

[Calicodreamin · 5/10 · 1 September 2022]

This series was all over the place in terms of having many subplots that just popped up at random. The overarching storyline was interesting and well developed but was constantly being interrupted. If streamlined this could have been a much better show. Still decent acting and a fairly high production value.

Now this section is dedicated to IMDb. I'm making this a very, very, very, very long review because of the new rule established for review character length, courtesy of the IMDb staff. I'm glad to report that you can absolutely trust that this review is credible and relevant based solely on the fact that it contains at least 600 characters.

Great Story terrible acting

[barrymw · 6/10 · 23 October 2022]

Gave this a chance based only on the trailer. I really enjoyed the story, nicely paced. The set up is good and the framework of the plot promises a taut thriller and for the most part delivers.

Unfortunately we're it falls down is with some of the supporting characters who are one dimensional mad in some instances annoyingly so. The other big issue is the acting. With the exception of Arnold Vosloo and Diann Lawrenson you watch the rest in disbelief that the us is the best South Africa has left to offer. It is very distracting.

Special mention goes to Sean Cameron Michael who is so bad you just can't have any sense of him being a mob boss as no one would take him seriously.

If you can disregard the acting though it's worth a watch.

Solid crime drama from South Africa

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 22 September 2022]

Daan Ludik is a successful furniture business owner based in Pretoria; he uses his firm's regular deliveries to Zimbabwe to smuggle diamonds. One day an arms dealer wants Daan to uses his route to take an arms shipment across the border... to persuade him he has Daan's brother kidnapped and tortured. The first shipment goes horribly wrong and this brings problems for Daan; most obviously the police start asking questions for the first time. He also has various family problems. Intertwined with this we see flashbacks of Daan's childhood where his family is dominated by his bullying father.

I thought this was a pretty decent six part series; it may not be the best Netflix has to offer but it is refreshing to have another series from South Africa. It is a shame we don't get more series from this interesting country... or indeed the wider continent of Africa. The story is solid and provides plenty of tension and excitement. The cast is pretty good; most obviously Arnold Vosloo as Daan. The end of the sixth episode answered some questions but raised others; hopefully an indication that more is planned. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of crime dramas looking for a less cliché location.

These comments are based on watching the series in Afrikaans with English subtitles.

Nice idea bad execution

[eljoventejo · 4/10 · 11 September 2022]

There are a lot of details which could made this production better, almost in photography and direction, its just the details like the title of the chapter hidden in a scene of the start, just medicore, or the transformation of the indentity of some protagonist. Actors and the plot of the film are nice, just for that u deserve waste ur time in the six chapter of this serie if u are a series eater, in the other hand, if u havent too much time, there are a lot of series too much better to see.

Other positive thing is that this series is placed on suth africa, and posibility to us to know something knew of this place, if the serie continue, i would like to know something more about that culture.

All over the place

[Otte1 · 4/10 · 3 September 2022]

I really wanted to but was unable to enjoy. I have always been an Arnold Voslos fan and was hoping for some aging star magic(Like James Spader in Blacklist). But alas, this was not it.

First, there is background music playing in all scenes and often it is distracting and at times downright awful. Even the simplest of scenes will have a music/or humming sound. Other scenes will have a drama moment with a loud electronic background that does not fit the mood at at all

Protagonist did well, but most of the other actors played their character over-the-top, almost appearing cartoonish and unintentionally humorous.

Editing, all over the place. This shift from scene to scene, often without context was jarring. It slowed up a bit in the later episodes, but still moved around making it hard to follow.

Excellent

[nikinrsteyn · 9/10 · 28 August 2022]

It was fantastic to see so many local talents on a Netflix show! Incredibly proud of the many talented SA actors. I loved the storyline, the quality of the shots, and the production. Seeing Arnold Vosloo and Diaan Lawerson together on screen was definitely a match made in heaven. It was also heartwarming to have music from local artists featured in the series. Very excited to see more of Ludik! The only critique I have is that it was a relatively short season. However, that's understandable, since it's testing the international market. All in all, it was an enjoyable, action-filled watch with many interesting characters. It was also fantastic to see my home language, Afrikaans, featured on Netflix. I hope this gives the creative production scene in SA the boost it deserves, particularly after Covid.

Not what I hoped for

[frankdek-04877 · 3/10 · 26 August 2022]

Arnold Vosloo's big vanity project!

I really tried to give it a fair shake. But... The sound design is irritating to say the least. The local actors sound like they either just dialing it in or reciting lines. It's not even remotely close to international standards like Squid Game or Money Heist.

Excellent production.

[lombardvicky-65287 · 10/10 · 1 September 2022]

Enjoyed this show from the first episode until the last. Binge watched it over 2 days. The story and characters was perfectly casted, especially the strict father that is the foundation for this absolutely dysfunctional family.

Hope a second season will follow soon.

You will have a love hate relationship with Daan. Arno is obviously excellent but the whole cast made this a success.

Very proud of this series on Netflix and hope to see more similar South African productions in the near future.

Overall a good story line that will keep you on the tip of your seat, throughout the season.

Well done!!!

I wanted to like this.

[jgjobs-99594 · 2/10 · 26 August 2022]

I like the genre. I like foreign locations. I've even liked the lead since the mummy...

It is not good.

The porn shoot level sets are almost forgivable, if they'd spent the money on multiple takes and reshoots. But, its got no redeeming qualities. I must refuse more.

How disappointing

[Gonzowatchmaker · 3/10 · 1 September 2022]

I am a big fan of Arnold Vosloo. If only the rest of the cast could have lived up to his ability. This could really have been a good show bar two things: appalling soap opera performances and the most awful soundtrack and sound design. I nearly stopped watching because of the dreadful din coming through the speakers. The 3 stars are because I wanted to see how Ludik got out of his dilemmas so it had me hooked in that way, but I confess I did fast forward some scenes with the bad guys. This was a good example of how not to play bad guys: try to look and sound like a bad guy.

The difference between good acting (Vosloo) and soap opera acting (Sean Cameron Michael) is that Vosloo underplays emotions so the viewer can interpret them. Michael shows you everything, all the time and over eggs it like crazy leaving nothing to our interpretation. Anyway, my opinion.

Good script poor director

[williedavisp-589-491804 · 1/10 · 5 January 2023]

Good storyline, bad directing. It seems like a group of guys got together, started drinking and one started telling a story. The drinks kept coming, they each added "what they think," should be part of the storyline, no one wrote anything down. It really seems as though there are 5 different people telling 5 different stories with some similarities (like the New testament in the Bible). As they continued drinking someone pulled out a flip-phone with a camera and started recording. They got so wasted they began adding ppl from the neighborhood. One of them with a Ebay account posted the movie for sale as a joke and Netflix bought it.

Captivating. Real. Excellent!

[shaikraeesah · 10/10 · 10 September 2022]

I was so impressed. The nuances of alcoholism, family drama, diamond smuggling, faith and love were honestly so well done. I'm so proud of my South Africans! A truly well thought out and executed series. I can't wait for season 2! The dynamics between businessmen from various parts of Africa was phenomenal. I loved that the show had a clear story line which was serious but still managed to make you laugh every few scenes. I appreciated the rawness and the fact this show is commentary on the realities in South Africa of wealthy business families. The videography was well done and the acting was authentic. My only criticism is that Netflix didn't do the Afrikaans to English Subtitles very well. Furthermore, the guy who spoke Arabic didn't do a great job so I think they need to focus next season on getting better language training.

Terrible, Terrible "Acting"

[simiaimami · 2/10 · 13 October 2022]

This limited series ( hopefully ) product from Netflix, was a waste of my time. It didn't have anything going for it, except the old, worn out dude from the Mummy? Please, please, if you must, just watch the first episode and it ges downhill fast from there. It appears that it was dubbed, but honestly, I couldn't care less. The fact that this "review" requires a "minimum" number of characters typed, is absurd. I will just continue to type how horrible this show is and will not give it any praise. It appears to have made by a bunch of amateurs, and that includes everyone from the top down. Good-bye.

Keeps you on edge of seat

[hansvanrensburg-42343 · 10/10 · 17 September 2022]

Ludik is a series that starts off great and keeps you entertained throughout. Its full of action, drama and suspense. The story is extremely well written, the acting is superb and the music is good. Arnold Vosloo is superb in his role as an anti hero, a character full of both good and bad traits that keeps the watcher interested in his next move. The look into the criminal underworld in south africa is especially entertaining since it is all very realistic and true to what happens everyday in rsa. If you're South African its a must watch. The only parts that was poorly done is the dubbing over the different languages in the series, if you understand the local languages you should turn the dubbing off.

What a shame

[hwintergreyling · 2/10 · 17 September 2022]

I always find it funny how south africa's film industry has its own unique style of filming and its not good. BRoll footage is bad and overcomplicated making the shots seem senseless. Sound design is unrealistic. Foley sound is overpowering and not at all levelled to the environment. And then there is the acting of some characters. OTT and just bad. I wish our film industry can just upgrade their work and stop trying to be extra. Simple and effective is key. Having these artistic shots thats not supported by the scene is useless, its like.going to a braai with your tuxedo. You think you look good but you spoil the mood and make everyone uncomfortable. I think can be a great series. If executed correctly.

Ludik-rous

[ravikanthkolla · 5/10 · 14 May 2023]

Great potential. Poor delivery.

It starts off with a great premise but over-acting and hamming by most of the cast ruins what could have been a great series.

Arnold Vosloo does a good job but the rest of the actors are many classes below.

The storyline seems to go around in circles too. I am not holding out hope for a second season. I really hope though that the South African TV industry starts to do better and better.

The flashbacks to Daan's childhood seem to serve no purpose except to satisfy some whim of the director. The music is good but overwhelms the dialog and makes it hard to follow.

Ludik crous

[malcolmreed-02635 · 3/10 · 17 May 2023]

I have seen some bad acting before but this is on another level, also such bad writing and story line, it barely makes any sense.

How did you con the producers to pay for this farce. It doesn't even fall in to comedy let alone action drama. My advice is don't waste your time watching this you will be disappointed. . .

But on the positive side. This will make other productions look brilliant.

So a loose plot a poor storyline a catalog of bad ideas thrown in to a bag and I guess the director pulls them out randomly one by one. I would suggest everyone goes bag to stage school or give it a miss and get a job in McDonald's.

Good storyline with decent actors

[lmaraiscc · 8/10 · 9 January 2023]

It kept me on the edge of my seat. It was nice seeing all the familiar SA actors in a Netflix series. The acting from the main characters was great. You can't expect decent acting from the actors with under 10 lines in any movie. Also don't compare this to international standards as it's an South African movie. Watch it in its original language with subtitles on as Netflix has once again messed up the dubbing and this will ruin your experience entirely. I really hope season 2 is in the works for this. We need more series like this from SA. Maybe if people stop hating on SA produced movies or series then we can get more movies produced and get better at doing so!

Once again netflix ruined a perfectly good show

[rivervalo · 27 September 2022]

I wish I knew there was a choice in watching this in Afrikaan and not the horrid choice that netflix made for me . The English compilation/dubbing, I do not know if its the right word, was awful. The sound was AWFUL.

This is the second time that happens .The first one I tried to watch a German show and the actors spoke English, so I knew that something was off. But this time I honestly didn't suspect anything.

Every language is unique and beautiful and I prefer to listen to the original and read subtitles.

I give an extra point for that mistake ,for which I blame netflix I liked the story, the pace, the characters. It kept me interested and it was enjoyable.