[HBO Max] Will Sharpe achieves in this representation of truth and lies a multi-layered narrative that plays with the perception of reality (shooting scenes) and fiction (movies imagination). And he manages to make a true crime fiction that is admirable in its creativity, but also in its depth, about morality and conviction. In the extraordinary four episodes he builds and rebuilds the different versions of a crime.
[Netflix] Another amazing creation of Spanish Alberto Mielgo that has a connection with his Oscar-winning short film "The Windshield Wiper" (2021), regarding how toxic relationships can be, here two predators involved in a battle without winners . The background of colonization and ambition is mixed with animation that experiments with colors, sounds and a complex editing, made by the director's company pinkman.tv.
[Filmin] One of the richest episodes in references, from David Cronenberg to Stanley Kubrick, and one of the darkest in the entire series. It introduces us to a disturbing environment, building two stories in one, which provoke a feeling of uneasiness, despite the fact that there are elements of humor (very dark), and using the old British television commercials for children from the 70s as a disruptive element.
[Disney+] Progressively, the series has been transformed from a children's proposal that adults can watch, to a story that addresses adult themes that child viewers can also enjoy. In fact, that this episode exceeds the usual length is an approach that seems to have more of an eye on adult viewers than on children. The structure of this episode allows the creation of two parallel plots that nevertheless come together intelligently in the main idea, which talks about the difficult decisions that are made to achieve greater family well-being, even if this means leaving some important things behind. It is a beautiful story, more emotional than funny, with a certain farewell tone. If throughout its three seasons it has achieved some of the best children's episodes of recent times, this one is outstanding, with some especially exciting sequences such as the final montage with the acoustic version of the song "Lazarus drug", performed by the singer Meg Washington.
[Netflix] The series aims to (and manages to) reach its climax in a story directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker ("Seven"). It is, along with "The drowned giant" one of the best hyper-realistic animations by Blur Studio that shows how high the aspirations of this series have come. But the dark atmosphere and the way these petty characters are framed shows that it is, indeed, at a higher level.
[Netflix] It has the irony of "Zombieland" (one of the directors worked on the film) in the reinterpretation of the zombie genre, but there's an existential sense in the animation tilt-shift that only reveals itself in the sarcastic final shot, which puts the human race where it belongs. Along the way, the mini-zombie apocalypse has references to horror films, the arms race and religion that are more current than they seem. And all for one horny night.
[Filmin] Pemberton and Shearsmith at their best, protagonists of a story that begins in a school where a substitute teacher starts teaching. It manages to make us believe that it is going to head down one path and ends up suddenly turning onto another completely different one. The references in this story are obvious, but what's most compelling is the ability to be totally comedic while also being very disturbing.
It is implausible at times but at the same time skillfully manages the tension, the cliffhanger at the end of the episodes and the suspense focused on elements as subtle as an inappropriate movement or a loose cable. Although the resolution is more disappointing than expected, it's probably one of the series with most adrenaline in recent years, as basic as it is effective, as intelligent as it is inconsequential.
An approach to the polarization of modern society that deploys complex narrative lines about the confrontational policies sought by populism, the manipulation of the masses, the extreme right-wing and extreme left-wing, the control of social networks and football as a popular and economic power that brings together some of the social and racial conflicts of our time. Sometimes it is excessive in the portrait of the antagonist, but it proposes interesting reflections on a world that, as Stefan Zweig warned, faces its own disappearance.
[Netflix] A beautiful tale that takes advantage of the 4:3 format through intense close-ups on the story of a girl born in a dry season who has the ability to contact a rainbird, challenging the prevailing status quo. The director born in Tanzania but educated in the United States, addresses the problem of drought in his country, building a splendid fantasy that is reinforced with the cinematography of the Greek Konstantinos Koukoulios, who captures the relevance of water with a magical tonality.
[Netflix] A splendid horror story as a reflection of a personal trauma, built almost as if it were a theatre play, with only two characters revealing the frustration and the feeling of mourning. Although well executed, the ghost scenes actually reflect the inner world of the characters, in a beautiful gothic display of human relationships and the different ways of coping with loss.
[Filmin] The story takes different shortcuts that take us to progressively darker places, but the introduction of Physics elements in the dialogue works well, and the interaction of the characters is the best thing about an episode close to "Black mirror" (2011). A possible future allows to imagine some daily actions that are very funny, and the possibility of leaving some questions in the air enrich the story.
[Filmin] It belongs to the playful episodes characteristic of the first seasons, in which nothing is what it seems, with an adequate pace by director Al Campbell, using the resource of the split screen that is reminiscent of the humorous use in "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968). The creators give prominence to guest actors, bringing freshness to the story, especially thanks to the funny performance of Daisy Haggard.
Alex Wheatle receives a copy of "The black Jacobins", a book about possible utopias, about the first liberation of black slaves against Napoleon. "If you don't know your past ..., then you won't know your future." It is the perfect summary of this anthology. Steve McQueen builds a serene biopic, but at the same time full of rage. A coming-of-age that involves maturing in the middle of unchained slavery. "Education is the key". As a preview of the following story, as the beginning of a story of hope.
[Netflix] A short film about the consequences of war and the complicity of looking the other way. When Mason opens the barn doors and finds the "ratpocalypse" he assumes the perception of violence. Wrapped in a macabre sense of humor, it's a clever story that has a current reading about how we look at wars from a comfortable distance. Axis Studios' hyper-realistic animation falls short of "The tall grass" (S2E5) perfection, but it's quite remarkable.
Although the series got worse since it focused especially on the sons of Ragnar, turning into a kind of Viking soap opera, I have to admit that some moments have achieved the height of those first seasons. And that the outcome (not the end, because the story continues with the series "Vikings: Valhalla" that Michael Hirst is preparing for Netflix, including the return to Kattegat), in a highly irregular sixth season, has been in these last episodes designed with talent.
Michael Hirst has managed to close the circle of Ragnar with his four children: Bjorn (epic), Ivar (a somewhat tricky ending, dedicating part of the final episodes to "sweeten" his profile, to make it more emotional), Hvitserk (consistent with his character) and Ubbe (although falsifying reality, he manages to be the true representation of Ragnar). And the award is appreciated to the fans when one of the mythical characters is recovered.
[Netflix] Tim Miller's third short is an exposition about the arrogance of humanity in the face of knowledge of other races, the easy path to progress that nevertheless reveals an internal fragility. Something like the exploitation of the exploiter. Perhaps the ideas need more time to develop, which also underlines the open ending. The animation brings creative designs on creatures and shines in the action scene.
[Netflix] Quoting William Wordsworth, the title itself already indicates the intention of a proposal that uses poetic elements to elaborate metaphysical questions about life and death. It's an interesting and unusual approach, which takes advantage of ambiguity to leave answers up in the air. And it has an excellent animation from the Japanese company Polygon Pictures, focused on warm and cold colors as a contrast.
An episode-bridge between the first and second seasons of the series that works only halfway. It certainly doesn't help that coronavirus restrictions force some creative decisions. Basically, the episode relies on the work of the two actors, in a kind of therapy session that may not have much influence on the development of the second season. Not only because it seems like an episode made only for fans of the series, but because there really is no evolution in either of the main character.
Unfortunately for Zendaya, Colman Domingo's reply is so powerful that it ends up trapping the full force of the dialogue. And it is true that important things are said about addictions, but this special does not seem to find the right balance to be more than an isolated sequence in the whole of the series. It is interesting, however, the beginning of the episode, that fantasy of a "happy" life as we understand it in our society. An idyllic image that seems to express what characters like Rue may never experience. "We are living in dark times. Not a lot of hope out there."
[Netflix] The show cannot miss the incursion into the cosmic entities of H.P. Lovecraft, the universe of that cosmic horror that seeks to dominate the planet parasitizing human beings. Sony Pictures Imageworks animation is possibly one of the weakest this season, compared to other 3D short films. S3 feels like little exploration of the possibilities of animation beyond copying the physicality of reality.
[Netflix] This short film reverses the tradition of a malevolent entity in South African mythology to turn it into a protector of battered women. The director Gcobisa Yako uses newspaper clippings to show the reality of gender violence and femicides, but she does so by deconstructing the tradition of stories in which women are always shown as a negative figure. On this occasion, the threatening deity is actually a protector who welcomes and offers the witness to one of the many women who have suffered violence, in a simple but forceful story.
[Netflix] An interesting approach to a future world in which 99% of the African population has decided to emigrate to virtual worlds, while the remaining 1% remains in an oppressive but real reality. What the director raises is that these two confronted worlds nevertheless coincide in keeping freedom of choice limited. The protagonist Halima, who is forced to marry an imposed husband, faces the decision to remain in reality or to access virtuality, but both are oppressive spaces for women. A beautifully filmed story that reflects on the changes in society.
[Netflix] The tradition of the djinn, the invisible spirit that affects the behavior of human beings, is used as a traditional element for the story of an old woman who must deal with its presence in her home, which causes tensions and family arguments. The faceless figure is depicted as a constant apparition provoking violence, like a curse hanging over African countries. It has a beautiful cinematography by Sheldon Chau and an editing work by the Spanish Álvaro del Val who is attentive to detail.
[Netflix] Far from the usual gothic tone in the series, Pan Cosmatos' proposal is a retro horror story from the seventies that works well especially in its aesthetics that sometimes recalls Nicolas Winding Refn. The development is somewhat unbalanced but it has one of the best endings in the series, it brings back Peter Weller and the viewing is generally quite satisfactory.
[NRK] Although it is not a spin-off of "Lilyhammer" (Netflix, 2012-2015), the actor Steinar Sagen comes back to a taxi driver character who, in this case, is a lonely and shy guy. It is a series of dark humor and with a certain bittersweet flavor that takes as a reference "Taxi driver" (Martin Scorsese, 1976) to take it to a terrain closer to absurd. And it achieves the balance between the drama of lonely characters and the sense of ridicule that some of the protagonist's actions provoke.
While the relationship with his mother is the best of the series, the story sometimes becomes tangled with some plot that feels too independent, and like that of the suicide. But it's a bittersweet comedy that works on creating complex characters and a very dark sense of humor.
[Netflix] Based on the true story of the 18th century when unmarried girls who became pregnant were considered a disgrace to their families, being abandoned on a small island in Lake Bunyonyi. It is a female empowerment short film that is built on references to spaghetti westerns, in the use of music composed by Andrew Ahuurra, or the planning of the action scenes. Loukman Ali's proposal uses African landscapes to delve into the western genre but with a current perspective that gives prominence to African women.
[Netflix] There are two distinct zones in the Kenya imagined in this short film, the so-called Blue Zone and Gray Zone. The first is a high-tech residence that indicates at its entrance that it is the "home of married happiness", but in reality it hides a coexistence marked by mistreatment by the husband. Produced by and starring Sarah Hassan, it uses the packaging of a children's story as an element of fantasy and distance from reality to reflect on a society of appearances against a background of violence. The approach is somewhat simple, but effective.
[Netflix] There's a fascinating wrapper around an absolutely insubstantial, un-scary story. It is as if the anthology tried to pay homage to classic horror stories, but being as harmless as those watched over time. However, the aesthetic provided by Vincenzo Natali and the cinematography by Colin Hoult achieve a splendid effect, almost as if it were a comic. Too bad there isn't much substance to the plot.
[Netflix] That the first episode is directed by Guillermo Navarro defines the aesthetic so characteristic of his collaborations with Guillermo del Toro. Atmospheric and dark, but without being unpredictable and terrifying, it has some problems justifying the political elements (racism vs. nazism). There are several interesting ideas, but it feels like a story that would have needed more development.
[Filmin] A kind of reunion that works in reality and fiction, because Mark Gatiss is incorporated, bringing together the team of "The league of gentlemen" (1999-2017). In fact, the first part, which looks like an episode of that series, works better for its sarcastic comments about the fate of their lives after University. But when the creepy elements appear, the story leads to a disappointing ending.
