201. Web-Series Reviews – 51

More web-series…

The Five – A mystery series created by author Harlan Coben. Jesse, a five-year-old boy, goes missing. Twenty years later, his DNA shows up at a crime scene.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

The disappearance of a young boy some decades previously is the scene setter for a complex mystery drama from the pen of Harlan Coben. When the child's DNA appears at a crime scene, the four friends charged with his care must confront the ghosts of their past and resolve the mystery and conflicting hopes of their present life. The plot successfully weaves in and out between mystery thriller, police procedural and personal drama. The four lead characters are well written and, crucially, well contrasted. Each actor can hold the screen in progressing the narrative and the different personal narratives dovetail very well. The casting of their younger selves is excellent. Good supporting cast too, with back stories complimenting the central narrative. Tight direction keeps us apace with the many twists and turns in the plot. The end is both surprising and convincing. Really superior drama. Strangely, considering the addiction to series these days, the story is so self-contained that it's hardly likely to spawn a sequel. Nevertheless, writing and direction and acting of such high caliber that some future collaboration would be welcome.

My Take – A good watch!

Unbelievable – A teenager is charged with lying about having been raped, but two detectives follow the path to the truth.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

In 2008, Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever), a troubled teen who'd spent a childhood growing up in foster homes, reported a sexual assault to local cops. However, her fractured account of events led to them being unable to have a credible case to go on, leading to her being charged with filing a false report, which destroyed her life. Detective Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) learns of some other women who've reported similar rapes, and after getting in touch with Detective Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette) finds the attacker may be operating across state lines to avoid detection.

If filmmakers are becoming increasingly bereft of original ideas, they can always turn to real life for inspiration, often of the less rosy and uplifting kind, such as this dramatization of the harrowing real life ordeal of several women, and in particular a young girl who no one believed and had no one to turn to. As downbeat as the content is, it perversely makes for the most dynamic, gripping viewing, especially if it's credibly written and engagingly performed, and luckily all involved with this production come off marvellously.

As someone who burst onto the scene as the cheery, bouncy Muriel in Muriel's Wedding, Toni Collette is now a long way from that cheery persona, and here is nothing less than magnetizing as a hard faced, no nonsense detective on the hunt for her prey, with strong support from Wever as her equally bullsh!t averse partner, two strong, dynamic female leads in a film showcasing strong females. With that in mind, the standout performance has to be mentioned, in the shape of Dever as the tragic young woman, grinded down after her ordeal and an already hard life by an incompetent system that was meant to protect her.

You like to believe some things can't happen in this tough old world, that some people can't be so alone, that a system can't be so useless and untrustworthy, that there aren't things in place to keep you protected, but more often than not, sadly, people find out the hard way they are. This production solidly depicts one such terrible example.

My Take - An excellent series!

 

Guilt – Max is wealthy and likes to show it. His brother Jake scrapes a living running a record shop. When they accidentally run over and kill an old man driving home one night, they cover their tracks instead of coming forward. Neighbours' suspicions about the man's death lead to the escalation of the brothers' guilt as their lives begin to unravel.

One of the reviews from IMDB...

As this series opens brothers Jake and Max are driving through an Edinburgh suburb at night. They accidentally run over and kill an elderly man. Max, a lawyer, tells his brother that he will go to jail if they report it. They establish that the man lived in the house they are in front of so take him back inside. Papers suggest that he had terminal cancer so they leave hoping his death will be considered natural. Of course things don't quite go to plan; the authorities may believe that he died of cancer but Jake gets a call saying his wallet was found in the house. He goes back and explains that he'd been there because he traded in old records and the man had a good collection. He befriends, and forms a relationship with Angie, the dead man's niece... which doesn't impress Max. Without going into details things later get complicated as Angie starts asking questions about the death; various older secrets are gradually exposed and the brothers find themselves in danger.

When I sat down to watch this show I knew nothing about it but assumed from the title it would be 'gritty' and a bit depressing... it may have moments of grittiness but it is far from depressing; in fact it is frequently hilarious. Much of the humour comes from Mark Bonnar's excellent performance as Max; it wasn't always what his character did but the subtle facial expressions as he did it. He was ably supported by Jamie Sives as his brother Jake; Ruth Bradley, as Angie; Emun Elliot, as private detective Kenny; Ellie Haddington, as a blackmailing neighbour; Sian Brooke, as Max's wife; and Bill Paterson as a local gangster. The story develops at a good pace with some plot lines originally seeming superfluous but later emerge to be essential to the story. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this superior comedy drama.

My take – An excellent series!  Being remade in Hindi with Jaideep Ahlawat and Zeeshan Ayyub!

Cheers till next time😊!

Daffy Definition

Mint – The only business that makes money without advertising😊!