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nataliabstanko
Reviews
Out of Darkness (2022)
"Too slow"?! Are you kidding me?
I am truly baffled by some of the reviews here. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time! What a brilliant, simple yet surprisingly poignant story about the horrors of being exposed and desperate.
It is set 45 000 years ago, and it is a fully immersive, brilliantly shot setting of a dark and unknown world. I forgot which century I'm living in during watching :)
Beautiful cinematography, very interesting casting (no perfect "hollywood" smiles here), and story rooted in conflict which is documented in archeological finds. A very pleasant surprise and a great watch. If you have a chance to see it, do it! I highly recommend it.
Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021)
A bonkers wild ride infused with magic and gore
What a wild ride that show is! I absolutely loved the nightmarish, cruel atmosphere of soulless LA (although it would be even better if they had a bigger budget to show a bit wider scope of the film industry and people in it, I think.) It's hard to imagine a better place for all the gore and random creepy magic to occur.
Both Rosa Salazar and Catherine Keener are A-MAZING in their roles. I'm sure the show wouldn't be as good without their perfomances. Magnetic and charismatic Rosa Salazar as Lisa Nova perfectly blends into all the weird horror, and her sheer coolness and bravado is such a joy to watch. Her face, her eyes, her whole being - she just doesn't take any prisoners, it's no wonder that poor Roy Hardaway lost his head for her (pun intended, lol.) Meanwhile Catherine Keener is simply perfect as a jaded, hundreds years old spirit Boro, who is just tired with mortals' shit. When I'm trying to imagine what it must be like to live for centuries and see everything, that's exactly how I picture it - a sense of absolute power and unimaginable cruelty, with lots of boredom and eye rolling. The scene of removing Jennifer's family memories, and a punchline when they woke up - oh.my.god! I immensely enjoyed this role and this fresh take on an ancient villain/weird hobo lady in furry slippers.
When it comes to the rest of perfomances they were very stellar (maybe apart from the girl who played Mary/Lucy, somehow I wasn't convinced by her at all, and I kinda wish someone else would have become Boro's new vessel.)
I read the synopsis of the book the series is based on, and I'm very happy they didn't make Lisa Nova a victim of rape (among other things). I'm reeeeally tired of that trope. That decision makes her character more powerful, and all the gruesome consequences more painful to watch (poor Jonathan really didn't do anything to deserve such fate.)
There are a couple of things that could have been done better. I think the last episode was quite anticlimatic, especially after a completely bonkers penultimate episode. I also wish there were a little bit more of a social commentary or depth; the series was great to watch, however it didn't leave me with an impression of watching something meaningful (and there are many great niche horror movies that did that to me.) The budget could have been a bit bigger, with more locations and sets+extras. But overall I did enjoy it very very much and got sucked into its creepy atmosphere completely. Not sure where they could go in season 2 and if there are any plans for it, but I hope they'll make it, so that I can return to a nightmarish world of ancient evil spirits, zombie bikers, eyeball munching, tadpole smoothies, puking kittens, rib-vaginas, and all that crazy shit.
Katla (2021)
Almost comically bleak - and should have a more noticeable warning from Netflix.
This show gave me:
- two drowning suicides,
- suicide via russian rulette,
- suicide via driving into a volcanic ash,
- a murderous child running around with a knife, slicing sheep's and people's throats,
- two adults drowning a child in a sea.
I couldn't help but think: 'what the ---- did I watch' at the end of the series. The amount of tragedies at the end spoiled quite a good, albeit slow season.
If there is a season 2, petition to the writers: please don't mistake tragedy and shock value with emotional depth and good writing. It REALLY isn't the same.
That being said, I quite enjoyed watching it, mostly because of stellar acting (especially the actress playing Grima - she was amazing and heartbreaking.) Bonus points for cinematography, which was absolutely breathtaking and made me want to visit Iceland. I would give the series 6.5 stars if there was a possibility of a half star rating, but since there isn't, I'm giving it 7 for the effort of all involved and with hope for a better season 2.
However, I definitely wouldn't recommend it to viewers who struggle with their mental health or family tragedies. It really can be triggering, and Netflix should provide a clear and noticeable warning on their main page, not only before the last episode of the season.
Romulus (2020)
Why such low rating?!
I'm honestly baffled. The show is masterfully done. The costumes, colors, cinematography, action sequences - everything is top notch. They even speak archaic latin!!! Acting is stellar, and the story is compelling - I was surprised a couple of times by the story going totally against clichés and being genuinely captivating, which is less and less common nowadays. I have no idea what's going to happen next (apart from the founding of Rome, obviously - but at this moment of a story, it's impossible to tell how exactly it'll unfold, which is great).
I love it, and I appreciate an extremely hard work that must have gone into creating the series. Huge congratulations to all involved, the show is simply spectacular!! I'm hooked, I'll be watching and keeping my fingers crossed for season 2. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it, you won't be disappointed.