Katla

20 plus years ago I had the honor of meeting show runner Balthasar Kormakur here in the states and then later in Iceland. The Icelandic government was trying to pitch him as the new Bergman. He certainly wasn't that but his work had it's own qualities that were great. So it was a surprise to see his name on this series after not hearing anything about him for so long.

The show is really engaging and certainly unusual due to the setting of a nearly abandoned town slowly getting covered in volcanic ash. Some parts of Iceland look like another planet in normal times but the addition of an active volcano really pushes the unreality to another level. I wonder how much of this is taking advantage of circumstance and how much has been created by a special effects team.

While the pacing might be slow to some people, it's not out of line with other Scandinavian series or movies. The characters are all interesting and lead me to wonder how I would fare if presented with this same situation.

I have called this an Icelandic Solaris. If you are not familiar with the Tarkovsky film or the book it came from, I will not get into spoilers trying to explain that. For those who are familiar with those works, you'll see what I'm talking about but that will not diminish your enjoyment of this series. One fair warning; the series ends not where you would expect it if this were made in the United States and might be upsetting to some.

This Icelandic drama is set in and around Vik, a small town in the shadow of Katla, a volcano that has been erupting for about a year, threatening the town. Most of the inhabitants have evacuated but a few remain, this includes those scientists investigating the volcano. One day something strange happens; a woman is found. She is naked but black from head to toe with ash. After the ash is cleaned off she gives her name and it matches that of a Swedish woman who was in Vik twenty years previously. It can't be her though as she is alive and well in Sweden... she does look like a younger version of that woman and appears to have her memories. She isn't the last person to be found in such a state; each of them appear to be a copy of somebody; some alive others dead. The people of Vik will have to come to terms with the arrivals and establish whether they are a danger or not.

I really enjoyed this series. It had a great setting; the black, ash covered landscape made an interesting change to the usual white snow or green landscapes of Icelandic dramas. We are quickly introduced to key characters before the first ash-coated person turns up. There is a great sense of mystery about just who and what they really are with suggestions of sci-fi and folkloric origins. The make-up for these people is very impressive. At only eight episodes in length the series neither drags nor feels rushed. The cast does a fine job bringing the various characters to life. When the series reaches its conclusion there are still questions to be answered; perhaps we will get another season but to be honest I enjoyed the ambiguous end and don't think more is needed, of course I'd watch if there is more. There is some violence, one case in particular is quite shocking. Overall an impressive drama that I'd certainly recommend.

These comments are based on watching the series in Icelandic with English subtitles; a dubbed version is also available.

The portrait of daily life in a small Icelandic community affected by a volcanic eruption looks mesmerizing to the foreign (non-Icelandic) viewer. It's like life on another planet.

The scenery, the harsh environment, the feeling of imminent danger, they all contribute to an immersive experience into a totally different reality.

The result is a balanced mix of real life events that look otherworldly with otherworldly events that look real and almost possible in that quasi alternate reality.

Served with solid writing, performances and astonishing landscapes well captured in a beautiful cinematography.

If you liked "The Returned" ("Les Revenants"), "Glitch", "Us", or even "Pet Sematery", you'll have much to like in the Icelandic series "Katla". Eerie, dark, forbidding (often literally so, as the nearly deserted town of Vik, Iceland, has been showered with ash from the Katla volcano for a year), and gripping, the plot moves somewhat slowly but is always engaging.

The story and setting are so grounded in a harsh, otherworldly, and unforgiving environment that the impossible becomes strangely believable. That the characters are tough, realistic, unfanciful sorts adds to the credibility of the supernatural events that befall them.

As each episode ends with a cliffhanger, it's very hard to stop watching. Just one more episode!

Katla is a chilling new eight-part Netflix series that has recently dropped on the streaming platform.

In Iceland, after the subglacial volcano Katla has been erupting constantly for a whole year, Gríma is still looking for her missing sister who disappeared the day the eruption started. As her hope of ever finding her body is fading, the residents of the surrounding area start to have visits from unexpected guests. There might be something hidden under the glacier no one could ever have foreseen. One year after the violent eruption of the subglacial volcano Katla, the peace and tranquility in the small town of Vik is dramatically disturbed.

The intensity in this series is high as it slowly builds a haunting mystery against this beautiful landscape. One of the better Netflix shows quite disturbing in the end . The film score is first class with some excellent haunting cello orchestration.

I finished this series up and the Dolby Vision cinematography is pretty incredible highlighting the different shades of gray in the in the Smoke of volcanic ash from the seismic disturbance . The visuals of the landscape is worth the price of admission. Katla is some really gorgeous TV Cinema.