Hot Skull

Well-fictioned scenario making the audience curious and waiting for the next episode. After two years with the pandemic, it forces us empathize and question our own world. Stunning acting from Turkish movie and theater industry.

Moreover, the fact that the book inspired by the script was written 3 years before the script was written is another factor that makes this fiction interesting.

Considering the low budgets that nerflix allocates to European productions, it should not be compared to Hollywood productions.

However, it can be said that 7 different local Turkish animation companies and more than 100 graphic-designers work meticulously and it is a good job worth watching.

Having watched the first episode it is fairly obvious that this is a re-imagination of the 2008 Canadian film Pontypool with a COVID like setting/analogy.

That film had the exact same premise, a diseased state with the same symptoms and spread the exact same way, verbally (speech to hearing). Having said that, the production values are good, and the lead actors are good as well. I haven't watched too much Turkish cinema, but this seems to be a quality production even if the idea is not entirely original. Yes, it is Turkish, but the video I watched had a dual English Audio component and subtitles as well. I'm interested to see where they take this and will continue to watch. BTW, check out the original movie, Pontypool, it is quite good.

Hot Skull is a good Turkish dystopia travelling around contemporary social issues pandemic, state pressure, totalitarianism, resistance, individualism, and search for hope. Presented in a gloomy Istanbul atmosphere portrayed in brown, yellow and green colors, this eight part series tells us the story of Murat Siyavus, a linguist and an intellectual who is immune to the a social-medical pandemic, yet prone to another illness related to (his) bodily reactions. Around social and medical issues, Hot Skull presents a dark future, where the cities are wound round with walls and law enforcement forces. It is a good series since it is a dystopia that is not common in Turkish popular culture and it presents contemporary social-medical issues with good visuals, and credible storytelling. The acting of Osman Sonant, Sevket Coruh, Haluk Bilginer and especially Tilbe Saran are notably good, the rest is unfortunately below average. However, since it is within the boundaries of popular culture (yes Netflix) the series limits itself and almost always stops where it can say something more, and become critical and notable.

Starting off with captivating protagonist and promising story that delivers to some extend but not all. Epidemic, societal decline and government control are main themes. Beautifully shot with grim city scapes. Reasonable realistic character development but it crumbles a little at the 5/6 episode mark where the story takes detours. The biggest fail and why it is not high 8s for this review is the lack of explanation around this epidemic, the mortality and symptoms for example. Without this, it is difficult to feel threat or urgency which also sends other storylines a drift. It feels like the story is searching although the cinematography is excellent.

The series is adopted from a Turkish novel written by Afsin Kum, published in 2016, which I was not aware of it before watching the series. I finished the first season 15 minutes ago, and really enjoyed watching it. It needs a lot of thinking, sense of humor and open minds. I admired the "abuks" and congratulate the writers.

All the characters, acting and directing are incredible. The story takes place in Istanbul. There is an outbreak going on which spreads by hearing nonsense talking of affected people. The main character the hot skull, is the only immune person who is a linguistic scientist, but has a side affect of the immune response.

Hope to see the second season soon.