I wanted to like this movie and I mostly did but it ruined things by taking itself far too seriously on the one hand and not seriously enough on the other. I'll try to explain. The plot is good, interesting characters, nicely built suspense and mystery and some of the most gruesome murders I've ever seen outside of pure torture porn/slasher movies. There's the potential for some nice character development and in the case of one older man it happens but is cut off all too soon. In other characters it never really eventuates - sadly.
I like a series or movie where I really don't want particular characters to die and that was the case for me with the "town drunk" and his lady friend. I was sufficiently intrigued by the mystery to stay for the entire shebang tho the final episode was a stretch and I actually skipped a large chunk in the middle due to the overuse of tragic violins, slow motion camera work, etc etc over-doing the drama. This brings me to the negative. First of all the "too seriously part. The lead female character was unbelievably self-absorbed, churlish, petty & rude. She continually showed a shocking lack of ordinary common sense let alone official police officer sense. The character ended up irritating me no end. And the direction and production of the series seemed to think this was the best part of the whole shebang so they draw out excruciatingly long scenes with her having tiresome "moments" of drama with god- awful overly dramatic violin music in the background making it even more headache inducing. Honestly, 'over-wrought" would be an under-statement both in terms of the production and the lead female's acting - tho I suspect that's how the director told her to play it. This rubbish almost put me off watching the series but there was just enough to keep me interested.
The other thing that almost made me stop watching was the mind-numbingly stupid behaviour of the Prosecutor, the police and other characters throughout the show - used to advance the narrative and force situations that were quite ludicrous. Nobody yells out and lets bad guys know they are there thereby losing the element of surprise instead of hiding, running away or sneaking up and attacking the villain. No cop just blunders into situations without checking around first. And don't get me started on how dense the Prosecutor was in every possible respect. Again - it's a wonder I kept watching coz that unrealistic level of stupidity usually sends me screaming off to watch something else. I guess the story was good enough to keep me tho - in particular the fascinating stuff about the local indigenous people and their rituals etc. I had no idea they even existed. Worth watching just for that.
Overall I recommend this series, it has enough positive to be worthwhile but be aware of it's negatives. They are annoying as hell. Shame coz this could easily have rated a 7 or 8 but too much was awful about it.
I like a series or movie where I really don't want particular characters to die and that was the case for me with the "town drunk" and his lady friend. I was sufficiently intrigued by the mystery to stay for the entire shebang tho the final episode was a stretch and I actually skipped a large chunk in the middle due to the overuse of tragic violins, slow motion camera work, etc etc over-doing the drama. This brings me to the negative. First of all the "too seriously part. The lead female character was unbelievably self-absorbed, churlish, petty & rude. She continually showed a shocking lack of ordinary common sense let alone official police officer sense. The character ended up irritating me no end. And the direction and production of the series seemed to think this was the best part of the whole shebang so they draw out excruciatingly long scenes with her having tiresome "moments" of drama with god- awful overly dramatic violin music in the background making it even more headache inducing. Honestly, 'over-wrought" would be an under-statement both in terms of the production and the lead female's acting - tho I suspect that's how the director told her to play it. This rubbish almost put me off watching the series but there was just enough to keep me interested.
The other thing that almost made me stop watching was the mind-numbingly stupid behaviour of the Prosecutor, the police and other characters throughout the show - used to advance the narrative and force situations that were quite ludicrous. Nobody yells out and lets bad guys know they are there thereby losing the element of surprise instead of hiding, running away or sneaking up and attacking the villain. No cop just blunders into situations without checking around first. And don't get me started on how dense the Prosecutor was in every possible respect. Again - it's a wonder I kept watching coz that unrealistic level of stupidity usually sends me screaming off to watch something else. I guess the story was good enough to keep me tho - in particular the fascinating stuff about the local indigenous people and their rituals etc. I had no idea they even existed. Worth watching just for that.
Overall I recommend this series, it has enough positive to be worthwhile but be aware of it's negatives. They are annoying as hell. Shame coz this could easily have rated a 7 or 8 but too much was awful about it.
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