American Primeval

I did not know what to expect with this, but right from the outset the tone was set. Brutal, unforgiving, hard, and believable. This is based on a little known and hardly talked about piece of American history. It's not pretty. But it has you hooked from the beginning. I rarely give a rating this high but the production values, writing, acting, and direction were first class. There are not many people to feel sorry for in this tale, but when you find them, they are worthy of your emotions. You won't look atbMormons the same way again. A sort of ending that has a mixture of predictability, pathos, and unpredictability. Great battle scenes have you ducking, and grateful you are not there.

Although I am not a huge american western fan, I binge-watched this series over two evenings and enjoyed every minute. It is refreshing to watch a series that does not require much introduction and engages straight away.

The plot is easy to follow and did not involve interminable switches to other characters at key moments or flip back and forth in time.

The acting overall is good and consistent throughout the series and there is good character development.

I looked forward to every episode and was reduced to tears at the end of the series.

I was left looking forwar to season 2 (which I hope will be coming soon).

Highly recommend this series to folk who don't mind a bit of violence in their viewing and want an evening of action and adventure.

To be honest, I don't expect much from original Netflix shows anymore. Netflix was never of HBO or Hulu level for that matter and even Prime is slowly gaining ground on the quality of its' shows. American Primeval comes at a time when Netflix really needs a proper show.

15 years ago, 22-episode seasons were the norm, when we had to wait for a whole calendar year or more to see what happens next. Then, Netflix dropped all episodes at once, which is fine for binge watching but you end quite quickly with nothing to watch, plus it's tiring to watch many many episodes in a few sittings.

And then the limited series trend is back, where we practically talk about an extend film. And this is what American Primeval is. An extended film, which has the perfect pace to develop the characters enough for the spectator to care while not dragging the plot.

With me not being a US citizen, it was a great opportunity to read into this part of American History, about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a story which I handnt come across in other featured films or TV shows. It also gave me the incentive to look into the Mormon religion as I was only aware of its existence. While this series is not entirely historical accurate concerning the flow of events, it seems that it does depict the general frame of the events that unfolded and the basic parties involved.

It is as violent as it should be to bring the audience the actual conditions and battles people of these times had to face.

Acting by most if not all actors is top notch but I have to say I found Betty Gilpins' character (Sara Rowell) a bit exaggerated. Taylor Kitch delivers but Shea Whigham as Jim Bridger and Kim Coates as Brigham Young are extraordinary.

Principal photography is beautiful, all scenes and direction by Peter Berg is outstanding.

If you want an interesting Limited Series to binge watch over a weekend (or a... Day!) and don't mind the brutal depiction of the Old American West, this is a perfect choice!

Similar vibe to The English (2022). Very well made. Great to have a quality production that's a Netflix original series amongst the mass of mediocre content they pour out so generously. It's violent but that period would have been I imagine, therefore, there's rape, hangings, children killed etc so if that bothers you, then I'd avoid. The tone is immediately bleak as is the prospect of any character being killed at any second. Judging by the lengths people go to with such effort just to stay alive another day, it's a wonder whether they'll have enough cast to fill the six episodes. Needless to say, I like it. 4.5 stars.

Captivating show although the story line is not too deep, but yet riveting and explanatory enough as clues are revealed throughout the mini-series. Bloody, action packed, beautiful terrain, and reminiscent of "the revenant" and "hostiles".

Great cast overall with Taylor Kistch who is perfect for his character, not too much time is spent diving into his backstory, but he is made for the mysterious and dangerous vibe.

The gloomy environment is in line with the times, 1800s wasn't exactly the "happiest" of times in America. It is interesting how it paints a different perspective of some of the sacrifices folks from different cultures and views had to make in order to coexist.