Marianne

Wow! I've known for a while that the French can make great drama and thrillers, but here they come with a horror series and they knock it out of the park yet again! There's an option for both subtitles and dubbing, and the dubbing works quite well, if you're like me and can't stare avidly at the screen at all times. I absolutely LOVED Marianne! The acting was great, the setting and buildup just right and executed correctly. The twists were really good and that ending means we need a season two! We NEED IT.

The idea of the plot was interesting, the cinematography was really good, many creepy scenes throughout the series BUT... the writers were really confused. The story is all over the place, everything is happening so fast (especially in the first three episodes), there's no atmosphere or mystery whatsoever. The characters are all superficial at best with no chemistry between them. And also what's with the comedy all the time?? Especially in moments when everyone is supposed to be worried. All in all, it's just sad that such a good story idea was so poorly executed. Watch it but don't have high expectations.

I love horror, but I also know that horror, especially Netflix horror recently can be either really good or really bad, so I went into this with very low expectations, and, honestly, I was very pleasantly surprised. The first episode immediately gripped me and made me want to see more, more of these characters, more of this story. I feel like this series honestly does a lot of things right, especially the characters. I felt like I was never watching characters, but real people. Scenes were they were angry at each-other had a very real tension to it, scenes were they were happy and having fun with each-other make you feel happy to see a group of friends being able to see the bright-side in dark situations. And even the language barrier didn't bother me, sure I don't speak french, and sure the subtitles were a bit wonky every now and then, but still, I was able to understand everything that was going on. Of course, like everything, this series has some issues, but very minor (at least to me). Overall, this was a very well crafted, short series, that I hope does well enough to warrant a second season because, honestly, I can't wait to see where they take the story, and what will happen next given the circumstances of were they left off.

It started out great and there are a few good moments throughout but as it went on it got more nonsensical. The comedy sprinkled throughout was funny but unfortunately took away from the creepiness. Lots of hommage to horror movies (even anime) which was interesting but it got to the point where it was distracting. It was way overhyped on social media and it feels disappointing that it did not deliver to the degree that was advertised.

It seems like years that I was frightened by a horror. Half way thru episode one and I am watching with my hands over my eyes. If you like being scared don't miss this.