The Miniaturist

In The Miniaturist, a young woman marries a stranger and finds herself living in a mansion full of mysteries. After her new husband gives her a doll house, a creator of miniatures begins supplying her with prescient gifts for the house.

Looking like a Vermeer painting, full of mystery and portent, gorgeously filmed, with a beautiful sense of period, I loved the first half of this two-parter.

As the series moved into a second half in which the lack of character development became more noticeable, with main characters unexplored and some at-first intriguing characters fading from view, I became less enamored, although the story and style were still compelling.

The greatest disappointment was in the title character. My issue was less the explanation, which was underwhelming yet was a satisfactory reversal of direction, but in the complete lack of explanatory motive that made the core of the series seem like a cheap narrative device.

With no narrative or emotional core, The Miniaturist is a beautiful but hollow experience.

The cast is good and I enjoyed this for the most part, but when it was all over I just had a "that's it?" feeling.

I can't really recommend or not recommend it. It should have been better but overall it's still generally pretty good.

There seems to be some confusion among British and American viewers writing here, yes? The 156-minute production seems to have been shown in two episodes on British TV while PBS is showing the production on Masterpiece in three episodes of 52 minutes each. No surprise there- think back to the showing of "Bleak House" and how it was presented quite differently to the two audiences in terms of episodes. BTW, it seems a fine production to me, not at all thin and poorly-conceived. Quite the opposite!

I started watching the first episode and did not move. It is beautiful. It is light and dark, funny and disturbing. It is worth the time and I will definitely watch it again. The acting was first rate, but the sheer beauty of the lighting and the sets, especially the miniature steals the viewer's attention.

I absolutely loved The Miniaturist, I thought it engrossing, and enchanting. I'll admit, after ten minutes, I found myself thinking I wasn't going to get into it, as I'd hoped for a Ghost story, unaware of the very different direction it was going to head into.

Initially, I was struck by how incredibly beautiful it is, it is a lavishly produced drama, with incredible costume and set design. The production values are excellent, it is so well shot, so easy on the eye.

Superb acting, Anya Taylor Joy and Alex Hassell share the spoils, with the former shining initially, and the latter shining later on. In all fairness though, each cast member performs admirably, Romola Garai never fails to impress. Each character adds something, nobody just there to make up the numbers.

It has a mystery, and an intrigue, you're desperate to know who the talented, but well informed miniaturist is, but the main element I would say is the love story element.

The authentic Dutch settings add to the overall feel of it. I think this is a drama that will only improve on subsequent viewings. I loved it, 9/10.

It's as if Rembrandt and Vermeer have come to life. It's an engaging story beautifully told. I could go season 2.