Kein böser Traum

Generally I enjoy Harlan Coben's books. He is an American. Yet every book they turn into a mini series is generally foreign and are dubbed with English. Secondly they are pretty poorly done, this one is no exception. I don't get why an author of such renown allow his books to be portrayed in this way. This one is pretty violent and many of the actors are heavily tattooed . What is it with all the tattoos? Although I watched the complete series I found it pretty unconvincing and the plot had a lot of holes in it. This will be the last series based on one of Harlan Coben's books that I will watch.

Coben's books are all eerily alike, and sadly, this movie adaption is no exception. Boring and formulaic from the get go, it never recovers. No character development, subtlety or surprises. I tried hard to ignore my prejudice against American crime fiction (James Patterson being the worst offender). At least Coben seems to write the books himself, but at this stage I reckon I could write the next one... maybe an easy way to make those elusive millions without actually having to put in the hard work? Dreams are free...however, I'd be boring myself, I've read too many excellent - predominsnzly British - whodunnits. By all accounts, American audiences are looking for different fare.

As "Just One Look" (2025 release from Poland; 6 episodes ranging from 41 to 52 min.) opens, a prisoner asks to meet with a prosecutor. The prisoner confesses to killing the prosecutor's daughter in a botched hit scheme. In a parallel story, we are introduced to Greta. Greta has a recurring nightmare about a fire and an indoor concert that killed 28 people... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this TV mini-series is based on the book of the same name by prolific Polish crime novelist Harlan Coben. The story line is complex and involves quite a few characters. It took me well into Episode 2 before it finally started coming together for me. The entire series is plot-heavy, with quite a few turns and twists, so the less said about that, the better. The episodes are fairly short, and this flew by in no time. This is not bad as such but as compared to that other Polish min-series I watched the other day called "Eastern Gate", this lags behind.

"Just One Look" recently started streaming on Netflix and Netflix "suggested" it to me (probably because I watched "Eastern Gate" also just recently). If you are in the mood for a TV crime mini-series set in Poland, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

I've never reviewed any movie or series before, but this was bad enough for me to warn others.

I only know Corban by name, I've never read any of his books. His name was enough for me to give it a shot nevertheless. I wasn't put off by the foreign make of the movie; the dubbing honestly wasn't bad. It starts off pretty well. It feels low budget, but has an interesting premise. It was intriguing enough to keep going through 2 episodes, but then it starts going off the rails. There are characters who make no sense, you have no idea what purpose they have or how they're relevant. Some are introduced seemingly to further a plot point with no context and never to be seen again. Even the kids ask pretentious questions, it just feels weird.

Main characters are so poorly developed that I'm still not sure why some were ever needed. The main antagonist is almost unstoppable, until he's not, in a ridiculous way. Then there's twist upon twist upon twist that feels completely contrived with a poorly executed ending.

I gave it a 4/10 because it's shot pretty well for as bad as it is, that's about the only positive. I would say it would have made a better 2 hour movie, but if they can't develop characters in 6 hours then, well...

Save those 6 hours of your life, I wish I could have them back.

What a frustrating watch. This show had potential, but the characters? Absolutely infuriating.

Let's start with the dumb wife-her husband goes missing under mysterious circumstances, she gets shot at, her kids are threatened... and her first instinct? Not to call her husband's colleagues or get real help, but to start making jewelry. Priorities, I guess. Then she turns down private protection-why? She's a mousy, unprepared person up against actual criminals, yet somehow thinks she can handle this alone? And to top it off, she conveniently knows nothing-nothing about a major accident in her past, nothing about her husband. How useful are you, lady?

The dumber husband isn't any better. He notices someone following him, confronts them without being armed, then turns his back like it's all good. Of course, he gets sucker punched. He escapes... and then just gets found again. Fantastic.

The police? Useless. Casual, sarcastic, wasting time on unnecessary details, and just completely unsympathetic. Then there's the prosecutor, who starts off with what seemed like an important storyline about his daughter but does absolutely nothing except stalk the dumb wife. His actual contribution? Zero.

Even the dumb wife's friend, who at least had the sense to call the police quickly, still managed to fumble her role. If you're trying to be subtle while snooping, maybe don't openly announce your sneak peeks? Just saying.

Then we have the bad guy, and honestly? Props to him for being the only competent character. He keeps winning, and at this point, I don't even mind.

The story itself? A mess. Too many pointless side characters that add nothing. The initial intrigue gets buried under ridiculous character choices, and by the end, you just don't care anymore. Hard pass.