Dark

I’ve been thinking about watching the series Dark, produced by the Netflix Internet television, for quite some time. The theme looked nicely mysterious. But the result is not entirely what I imagined it would be. The first episode of the first season looked as if it was shot by lovers of Twin Peaks. I was never sure about what was going on in the series, but I was constantly fascinated by the locations and especially fascinated by the cinematography, which was oozing with an atmosphere as harsh as Indiana Jones’s whip. Until about the sixth episode I didn’t know why I should be excited about a series that I don’t really understand, which has a great premise but totally sloppy characters and otherwise looks wannabe cool and stylish. From the seventh episode, the plot thickened and everything started to somehow fit together. But since I didn’t actually care about the flat characters, even when there was seemingly interesting stuff happening, I couldn’t really get up to speed with the series. The Dark series maybe has an interesting plot, but otherwise, it’s hollow, like an empty swallows’ nest. For me personally, a great pity and it just confirms the fact that it is not easy to film something that is mysterious from both a technical and spiritual stand point. (24/06/2019)

There is no miracle. It wants to look like Stranger Things and have a Lost-like atmosphere, but given that there isn't a single interesting character and they all look equally depressed (which, by the way, left me feeling pretty messed up) it doesn't really work. I’m avoiding the next season. (28/06/2020)

I put Dark off for quite a long time and I'm glad I waited until the very end of the series, as it allowed me to enjoy the whole story at once and without interruptions, which I think is an advantage given the incredible complexity of the plot and the characters. In the beginning, the viewer is confused and has absolutely no idea who, where, when, how and why. Then the puzzle pieces begin to fall into place, which basically stops in the final minutes of the third season. Some of the plot twists (especially regarding the interconnectedness of the characters) were indeed unexpected, others were somewhat predictable, but even so the creators managed to keep me in constant suspense and "groping in the void". I commend the casting, who mostly managed to select physically similar actors for each time period, which made navigating the plot a little easier. As the number of episodes increased, so did the complexity of the story, but somehow it still worked and held together pretty much right up to the very end, the denouement of which I think the creators pulled off quite well. My only major complaint would be with the characters, who I often found really annoying and irrational in their actions, so I had trouble forming a positive relationship with them at times (Magnus, Bartosz, Hannah and Katharina). Out of all the characters, Claudia Tiedemann appealed to me the most overall. Last but not least, I can't fail to mention the distinctive musical score with a touch of the Doppler effect. In the end, it would have been four and a half stars, but in this case I'll give myself an extra one - especially for the courage of the creators to embark on such a challenging project. (27/08/2020)