Here’s a little of my back story. I kept putting off watching Dark because I didn’t want to get hooked on another TV show while Game of Thrones was still on (I love Game of Thrones). But even before GOT Season eight, I put off watching Dark because it wasn’t a very high match on Netflix. If you know me, you know I’m all about foreign TV shows. The storytelling is really interesting.
So now that I’ve finished Season one, I wish I hadn’t waited so long — this show is addictive.
The premise: Dark takes place in two time periods — one year after the Chernobyl disaster, and 34 years after the Chernobyl disaster. It doesn’t exactly flip between time frames; I won’t tell you how it portrays them, because that’s part of the twist.
I feel like no one watches this show but me. Every time I bring it up, no one has heard of it. That being said, it’s an amazing show because — from the start (with that suicide scene) — you can tell it’s going to raise some big questions.
There are ominous narrations at times throughout the show; some of these include explanations about space and time and how time isn’t linear basically etc., which is a great touch in my opinion; it makes everything much darker than it seems.
Essentially there is someone looking for the answer to what secret lies within the caves near the nuclear plant. There are people with maps, other people who recall birds falling from the sky and all these apocalyptic visions etc., which really helps move things along with regards to story telling etc.. And also — they have a lot more story to tell here they left so many open ends!!
The story follows several different families as they try to find their children / figure out what secret their town is hiding / fix things that cannot be undone according to voiceover man during “in between the story” parts etc., which is a great storyline and has been very well scripted / thought out. Highly recommend if you enjoyed Cloud Atlas (2012).
I think next season is going to deal with the same family in a different situation regarding Mads’ disappearance, or it may be an entirely different family in an entirely different time frame — which would be really cool because we’d have another time frame added on top of the two we already have in Dark.
I love the way it’s filmed too. My brother watched about half of the first episode and said it reminded him of Black Mirror (which I have never seen so I can’t say). But I’m sure you’ll like the style of filming, because it’s very different from normal TV shows, and doesn’t exactly tell the story in order. It jumps between characters and storylines, so there is a bit of keeping up to do. And it does cover every character’s storyline, so there really aren’t any “background characters.” Every character has a story, and when new characters are introduced (like Yasin for example, who is the police chief’s daughter’s friend) they do usually have their own place in the storyline, and their own story to deal with.
Then you start following this new character around, whilst also being shown what the other characters are doing about Mikkel and Eric going missing. Which I think is a great way of telling the story, because it leaves a lot of cliffhangers in between storylines that you’ve just become invested in.
Another thing I love is how each episode starts where the last one ended – almost as if they were filmed as one scene. This is such a good technique, and I also respect how much effort must have gone into choosing those particular places to finish/begin each episode at.
And one more thing about the show – there are some amazing shots over/around the caves and woods; these bird’s-eye shots are gorgeous for colouring in shows like these — but instead of adding an awe-inspiring natural atmosphere to it like most shows would do — these shots add a sort of ominous feeling to scene. The score that plays underneath while these shots are being shown on screen is amazing at creating this really creepy vibe too. It’s very mysterious, I love it.
Conclusion
I hope you watch Dark or give it a chance at least because its such a good show. If you have watched it too and want to discuss it then feel free to contact me (social media handles can be found in my bio). I cannot wait to watch season two because season one is just so good, and there’s so much that can be done with it.
This show is an amazing achievement of non-linear storytelling, mystery, and horror — but thankfully not just a couple of d-list jump scares type of horror — this show is creepy af and makes a foreboding-apocalyptic atmosphere without having many typical haunting scenes or jump scares that don’t really have any effect. This movie creates atmosphere purely through the story, and the way it’s told. The acting is brilliant, the writing amazing, and the director needs an award. This show is incredible.
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