Ängelby

Looks better from a distance?

Of the three previous reviews – the two Scandinavian reviewers were not at all keen but the one from the USA found a lot of good in it.

Is it a national culture thing?

I am from the UK but have visited Sweden a few times.

The show could well be derivative drivel / hogwash / nonsense but there are few things in life that are truly new.

It is however beautifully filmed with interesting characters and lifestyles.

Am I intrigued because I want to immerse myself in what I imagine Swedish country life is like?

I was pretty gripped by this, having just binge-watched the last two episodes. There were times when I didn't really know what was going on, and times when I wanted to say, No, don't go into the woods AGAIN, in the dark, just don't! But I found the characters engaging and eccentric (I'm officially in love with Viveca) and there was enough of a cliff-hanger at the end of each episode to make me impatient for the next one. And ultimately, it doesn't matter whether you buy into other-worldly stuff or not - it can be complete tosh, like this probably was (see also: Stranger Things), but if you're enjoying it, why the hell not?

I fail to understand why our two Scandinavian friends are so vehement in their dislike - I got the echoes of Twin Peaks and Stephen King, but so what? It's all out there. And I thoroughly enjoyed it - and they're probably less enchanted by hearing Swedish spoken than I am.

Everything is stupid with "Ängelby". The story is stupid. The lines are stupid. The acting is exasperatingly bad with the exceptions of "Göran Ragnerstam", who is great, and Amanda Ooms, who puts in a somewhat acceptable performance.

Mia Skäringer is pretty much going for a tone deaf interpretation of a stone in every scene. Maybe as some kind of a relation to another stone being a part in the fable? If not, the reality is that she's no real actor at all. I like her much better in comedies. She bores the audience and doesn't convince you in any way. Why did the director do this to her? Can she really be this bad? How is that even possible? Any woman you find on any bus would do a better job. Stick to comedies, Mia!

The plot is worse than an old fifties UFO film. With a rich Scandinavian heritage with true nature magic what Ängelby suggests is a falsification of what all that can stand for. That culturally appropriative story-line concerning Egypt is both far-fetched, tasteless and pretty racist. Disgusting!

Most of all, the series is a total waste of time and an insult to people with working brains. I watched every episode for some reason. It only gets worse. If I could give it a "0" I would. Watch it at your own peril.

The lead character appears brain dead as she fumbles her way through absurdly phoney scenarios one after the other. My feeling was it was written by a couple of 15 year olds with zero understanding of anything at all in the real world and the impact of life transition and trauma. Get out of my face!!

After completing the 12 episode series, I found the show completely captivating to the point that I looked forward to each episode. The locations are all quite rich with detail and age which lends an air of reality to the show and characters that most shows just don't have. You won't find any sterile set locations here. The people are all quite exquisitely eccentric but in a way that makes sense by the end of the run. Then there is the main story. Everyone has their own unpredictable motivations. To me, unpredictability in story telling makes for a much more enjoyable experience and this is one of the few shows I couldn't guess the end, and I loved it for that. Still, unpredictability can come from bad places sometimes, but this isn't one of those. No, rather this is the type of show where it may be hard to guess... but it all makes some level of sense due to clues weaved into the show.

So my recommendation is to give this a chance. Just don't go into it expecting some kind of horror story or something with monsters or other unrealistic things. It's firmly a drama rooted in reality with the threat of mysticism. I say "threat" because for the majority of the show you are left to decide what if anything to believe. You can be like me and stay completely grounded in reality and believe there is an explanation for everything... or buy into it all. Either way, I think the show wraps itself up quite nicely in an oddly satisfying manner.

As an added bonus for people from other countries, there is interesting architecture, beautiful nature, and other visual treats to enjoy. When watching foreign shows myself, I tend to really get a kick out of seeing different ways of life. Like the oddity of doors that open outward. On American shows typically if a door opens outward its because of bad set design... here, it's the reality of the environment. Enjoy!