The Architect

In four 20-minute episodes, this Norwegian mini-series delivers a wry and humorous indictment of 21st century capitalism and its failings. Severe income inequality has made affordable living in Oslo unattainable while jobs have become increasingly Kafkaesque. Our protagonist, Julie, stumbles on an elegant solution to the housing crisis but soon discovers that in capitalism's zero-sum system, she can only climb the ladder of success by using friends and colleagues as rungs. While other are forced to resort to fraud in order to survive. There are no winners in the middle-class. This black-comedy is sharp and witty, quickly paced, efficient and razor-sharp. The series is very well crafted and entertaining.

If you look a way from the horrible camerawork zooming in and out like a toddler replicating the style of The Office. And if you look a way from the awful dialog, (which makes you wonder if it was written by an AI that has no understanding of how humans talk or act). And if you ignore the fact that there is no worldbuilding, or explanation for why it is that people can't afford an apartment. And then lastly look a way from the bizzare story, wooden acting and a very disappointing open ending. Then what you are left with is a waste of 80 minuttes.

No questions are answered. How did it get like this? Where are people living if they can't rent or own an appartment? Why aren't the streets littered with homeless families in tents? Why hasn't there been any riots? Why this, and why that?

If you like distopian sci-fi, then don't waste your time with this.

It's very hard to find a good sci-fi today. It felt more real then Lapsis.

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes was funnyer but this has better soundtracks. Who don't liked it, don't know what means a satira. It's a sociofilm. 80 minutes, why not a film? Maybe because now it can be a second season.

The worst thing was with a dog gragging around a drone minus one star - and mannequins in a shop window one star for concept - only things that made me go bleh. The actres are very good, the dialoge are realistic, in the future and now in norweg as well. It surtunly don't write this an artifical intelligance.

A little show with a lot of meanings and a very powerful capitalist message, there is something that we have in common with the female protagonist, we are just always look for ourselves and we just ignore the other people, we are just in a game where we feel that we need to always win, we are predators in this savage world, and unfortunately we are just monster

That's why you always need to think about the others, its ok to be goos people guys, lest stop the war and the fighting and lest be better individuals, we need to live in this awful worlds, the least we need to do is be better persons.

Arkitekten is speculative fiction done right. The writing, directing, and acting are superb. I wish there was more of it and I can't wait to see what this director makes next.

I imagine it will get a lot of comparisons to black mirror due to it being set in a realistic near future. And it is similar to that show's gentler episodes, for sure. However, rather than focusing on the consequences of new technologies, it uses them as a part of the scenery to explore deeper themes of societal structures and imbalances. I am so impressed by what it accomplishes in a short runtime. This show chooses to rely on subtlety and creativity to tell a small story confidently. I appreciate that the world feels ordinary, familiar, and lived-in, foregoing the need to over-explain itself.

Ultimately, the show has a lot of heart and isn't afraid to have some fun too. It is shot and edited beautifully. Even the music is great. I cherished my time with Arkitekten and I will be recommending this little gem to everyone I know!