317. Web-series Reviews – 148

More web-series reviews…

The Burning Girls – Came out in 2023.A reverend and her daughter start a new life in a village that soon reveals its community's dark history and where ancient superstitions and mistrust of outsiders are quite common.

A review from IMDB...

Samantha Morton and Ruby Stokes play their roles perfectly in this twisting suspenseful thriller. We binged the whole series as it was like reading a good book. One simply cannot stop watching it!

My wife called this series "Midsomer Murders," on drugs. It does have the feel of a village in Midsomer county, but there is no humor. "The Burning Girls," is a much darker series, more along the lines of "Hinterland," but darker still.

I am going to avoid giving away any spoilers and simply say that this series had so many interesting twists, and turns, that we were kept guessing right up to the very end.

If you are a fan of British murder mysteries, or a Stephen King fan this is well worth a watch.

I would also like to point out that the directing of this series was so good that it comes across as if the events are really happening, right in your living room.

My Take – Worth a watch!

 

The Chosen One – Came in 2023.  Jodie, a twelve-year-old boy from Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur, who after surviving a freak accident, discovers that he has Jesus-like powers: He can turn water into wine, make the crippled walk and perhaps even raise the dead. How will he deal with his destiny and lead the world through a conflict that's been thousands of years in the making?

A review from IMDB...

I watched it once and gave it 7 stars. I watched it a second time and I feel I have to give it a 9. I don't give it a 10 because it's not a great production and the editing and acting could have been better.

The Chosen One is an amazing, original story. Hundreds of movies and tv shows have been made about this topic, but this one is completely out of the ordinary. It's definitely a memorable story. The story starts with very little tension, and that increases steadily until the last few minutes of the last episode!

The use of music is very clever, as it reflects the feeling of the characters at the time and not the reality behind what's really happening, so nothing is too obvious; not to Jodie and definitely not to the audience. So you don't need to blame yourself if you couldn't connect the dots, although you had all the clues! This makes this series extra memorable.

The kids' performance is brilliant, to the point that they made me cry laugh and cry with them. Juanito Anguamea (Tuka) and Alberto Pérez-Jácome (Wagner), in special, were amazing. The adults, on the other hand, felt a little flat. I think that of Dianna Agron, in particular, because she was playing a key character (Jodie's mom Sarah), which really needed to be on point. I would also blame her for Bobby Luhnow (Jodie)'s poor performance in some scenes playing opposite to her.

This series deeply touched me and the story will be in my memory forever. I learned that this is only 1 part of a 3 part story originally published as comics. I hope they do a 2nd and 3rd season to tell the rest of the story.

My Take – An ok watch!

 

PI Meena – Came out in 2023.A young, troubled, female private investigator gets thrown into a world, where she has to fathom the unfathomable and find her own self.

A review from IMDB...

WELL WRITTEN, WELL ACTED & SLOW BURN

I usually don't write reviews as there are too many shows that come out every day now, and nearly all of them, the plot seems contrived and formulaic. But I make this exception because PI Meena treads the risky path of putting a young woman in a place where she supposedly doesn't belong ( at least in our Indian society) - fighting a deadly virus and terror orgs, along with her own personal battles and guilt.

Tanya Maniktala is stupendous as Meena, and literally carries the show in every scene. However, some characters around her could have been developed better, and bit of more composure for the character of Meena could have done a world of goods.

However, the way story progresses, it keeps you engaged and asking -what's next?

If you want a super pacy, male dominated cliche predictable thrillers, this might no be the one for you. But if you want to grab some pizza and hot lava cake and sit in the comfort of your quilt and watch something engrossing, you might want to give it a go.

The direction could have been a little better, and you might feel little let down by the lack of spark in Meena's life, and some of the underdeveloped characters. But Watch it for the stupendous Tanya Maniktala, the unconventional yet engaging narrative style, and a story that moves at a pace just good enough to keep you on the edge.

My Take – An ok watch!

Cheers till next time😊!!