Netflix drops so much original content on a regular basis that a lot of it manages to fall through the cracks, including some criminally underrated gems. The platform has leaned heavily on big budget fantasy and sci-fi to drum up buzz and generate big viewership numbers, but German series Dark has a real claim to being named the streamer’s best original show ever, even if it’s flown under the radar for far too many subscribers.
Germany’s first Netflix original ran for three seasons that dropped between December 2017 and June 2020, and fans had never seen anything like it before. The broad strokes of the plot are that four families find themselves drawn into a conspiracy surrounding a troubled history of missing persons in their small town, which could have easily been treated as a straightforward mystery procedural.
Instead, Dark became something else altogether. A time traveling conspiracy with a sprawling ensemble cast that touches down in the 1880s, 1950s, 1980s, the modern day and the 2050s, it’s an incredibly ambitious and labyrinthine narrative that takes its time to unfold, with the briefest moments and interactions between characters being paid off years down the line, where the revelations and reverberations hit home that much harder.
It’s an incredible achievement in storytelling that comes packing a constantly unnerving atmosphere, some stunning cinematography and phenomenal performances from every member of the roster. Each episode peels back just the tiniest new layer of the mystery, before it all builds towards a crescendo that explores heady themes of free will, family, existence and more, all wrapped up in a visually arresting bow. In short, far too many people have been sleeping on Dark, which is one of Netflix’s finest episodic efforts ever.
Published: Aug 12, 2021 09:57 am