Katla

The portrait of daily life in a small Icelandic community affected by a volcanic eruption looks mesmerizing to the foreign (non-Icelandic) viewer. It's like life on another planet.

The scenery, the harsh environment, the feeling of imminent danger, they all contribute to an immersive experience into a totally different reality.

The result is a balanced mix of real life events that look otherworldly with otherworldly events that look real and almost possible in that quasi alternate reality.

Served with solid writing, performances and astonishing landscapes well captured in a beautiful cinematography.

This Icelandic drama is set in and around Vik, a small town in the shadow of Katla, a volcano that has been erupting for about a year, threatening the town. Most of the inhabitants have evacuated but a few remain, this includes those scientists investigating the volcano. One day something strange happens; a woman is found. She is naked but black from head to toe with ash. After the ash is cleaned off she gives her name and it matches that of a Swedish woman who was in Vik twenty years previously. It can't be her though as she is alive and well in Sweden... she does look like a younger version of that woman and appears to have her memories. She isn't the last person to be found in such a state; each of them appear to be a copy of somebody; some alive others dead. The people of Vik will have to come to terms with the arrivals and establish whether they are a danger or not.

I really enjoyed this series. It had a great setting; the black, ash covered landscape made an interesting change to the usual white snow or green landscapes of Icelandic dramas. We are quickly introduced to key characters before the first ash-coated person turns up. There is a great sense of mystery about just who and what they really are with suggestions of sci-fi and folkloric origins. The make-up for these people is very impressive. At only eight episodes in length the series neither drags nor feels rushed. The cast does a fine job bringing the various characters to life. When the series reaches its conclusion there are still questions to be answered; perhaps we will get another season but to be honest I enjoyed the ambiguous end and don't think more is needed, of course I'd watch if there is more. There is some violence, one case in particular is quite shocking. Overall an impressive drama that I'd certainly recommend.

These comments are based on watching the series in Icelandic with English subtitles; a dubbed version is also available.

From a cinematic standpoint, this is beautiful! I get why people might not like it since it's very slow, but if you have an eye for good cinematography it's a must-watch. The series is well written and produced with excellent acting. Worth the watch ! Now Bring on Season 2 .

Although the plot is quite slow and drawn out far longer than required, I really enjoyed this show. I wish they'd done more with the root cause of everything (trying not to give spoilers) but I suppose not doing so gives them a ton of room to further develop and grow this idea in season 2 and beyond.

20 plus years ago I had the honor of meeting show runner Balthasar Kormakur here in the states and then later in Iceland. The Icelandic government was trying to pitch him as the new Bergman. He certainly wasn't that but his work had it's own qualities that were great. So it was a surprise to see his name on this series after not hearing anything about him for so long.

The show is really engaging and certainly unusual due to the setting of a nearly abandoned town slowly getting covered in volcanic ash. Some parts of Iceland look like another planet in normal times but the addition of an active volcano really pushes the unreality to another level. I wonder how much of this is taking advantage of circumstance and how much has been created by a special effects team.

While the pacing might be slow to some people, it's not out of line with other Scandinavian series or movies. The characters are all interesting and lead me to wonder how I would fare if presented with this same situation.

I have called this an Icelandic Solaris. If you are not familiar with the Tarkovsky film or the book it came from, I will not get into spoilers trying to explain that. For those who are familiar with those works, you'll see what I'm talking about but that will not diminish your enjoyment of this series. One fair warning; the series ends not where you would expect it if this were made in the United States and might be upsetting to some.