Dear Child

Very well done series. Beautifully filmed, good acting, interesting story line. I was fully invested right to the creepy end. The end was a disappointment, so I took off three stars. It was too abrupt, and it felt unfinished.

Movies and series that end like this annoy me a bit. It seems really lazy and disrespectful to the viewer. I mean; the audience bothered to invest all their time and emotions, so have the darn courtesy of finishing the story properly please! With a better ending, I would give it 9 - 10 stars, as I do love my dark, gloomy, creepy Scandi / European crime, and this one ticked all the boxes.

I found some of the reviews unhelpful. I read them while working my way through the early episodes and I have to say that while some say the ending was disappointing or rushed, I don't agree. Reading the reviews nearly put me off continuing with the series.

I actually enjoyed the ending and felt that everything tied in pretty well. I also liked the fact that there was much more depth to the plot than I expected. There were some holes but overall it was a pretty decent watch. I lack patience with these types of shows and often fail to finish them but I didn't regret hanging on for the end of this one.

Once you start Dear Child you find it hard to look away. This beautifully crafted limited series is about a woman and two children who are held captive by a man in a windowless makeshift home, until one day the woman escapes and that is the beginning of a narrative of back and forth until the story finally resolves itself.

I was completely entranced by this series. I beg of people not to watch it subbed. The subbing takes away from it, watch it in German with subtitles as it is meant to be watched.

My only disappoint was that the series finished too soon, I would have liked to have seen what become over everyone involved.

This series is captivating from the get-go, with a perfect blend of mystery, family drama, horror, and cop procedural show. The acting is top-notch especially from the young actress playing Hannah. She is the glue to the show and all eeriness emanates from where she comes from. The story is well-told, with excellent cinematography blending colors and darkness with the right amount to spook you. Up until around episode 5, I consider this a 10, however, the rather mundane reveal and the somewhat anti-climactic and rushed ending put a downer on what could have been a flawless new production from Germany.

As Episode 1 of "Dear Child" (2023 release from Germany; 6 episodes ranging from 45 to 50 min) opens, we see a woman and 2 children who are locked up by a man. The woman manages to escape but she is badly injured in a hit-and-run. Somehow her 12 yo daughter makes it out as well. At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from German director Isabel Kleefeld, turning the German bestseller of the same name into a 6 part mini-series. This is a super plot-heavy psychological drama, so the less said about the story line, the better. All I will say is that what appears at first hand in the opening episode raises more questions than it gives answers. Of course all is revealed in the remaining 5 episodes. Kleefeld and the rest of the production team is to be commended for creating a very tense atmosphere from the get-go that barely lets us. Equally up to the task is the non-names (for me anyway) German cast, none more so than the girl who plays the 12 yo. Beware: some of the scenes are disturbing, borderline psychological torture, so no, this ain't for the faint of heart.

All 6 episodes "Dear Child" started airing on Netflix a few days ago. I just watched this over 2 nights (3 episodes a night). If you are in the mood for a complex psychological drama that is very tense from the get-go, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.