White Wall

So far only saw one episode but it is intriguing and filming was pretty good. Don't speak a word of Swedish nor can I read Finnish so pretty much guessed at what was happening thru visuals. The only English is of course spoken by the stereotypical, greedy management which I could have guessed that without hearing a word. Looking forward to watching further episodes. It's better than a lot of the virtue signaling, politically correct garbage coming out of Hollywood these days. I read some of the other reviews and noticed some of the themes that are prevalent in Sweden are at least normal drama. Be sure to write those idiots that you are dissatisfied and maybe, with enough complaints, will change. Here in the states I have come to boycotting all the crap that tries to tell me how I should think.

This is unfortunately another case of a potentially interesting idea that is poorly executed. The basic plot has been described by others and will not be repeated here.

The show suffers from some of the maladies common to Swedish films and TV shows. The main one here is the acute lack of proper pacing. The show just plods along, seemingly with little thought of what is important to the plot and what is not. There are unimportant sub-plots and characters who contribute little or nothing and just make the story drag painfully at times. A third or more of the footage should have been left on the cutting-room floor.

There are also the "traditional" attempts at social commentary that, once again, contribute little. The company managers are suitably spineless and/or single-mindedly result oriented. And as always in Swedish shows, there are marital problems and unhappy children - also quite unnecessary to the story.

The acting is OK without being remarkable. There is the normal and unfortunate Swedish tendency for the acting to be overly dramatic, though, and everyone is very serious most of the time, staring fixedly at each other.

On the plus side, the locations are very good and the cinematography excellent.

The makers were trying really hard to keep things Swedish, with just a smattering of 'token' English! You have to admire them for featuring the real Sweden as a backdrop. And yes they were also very 'inclusive', even with an 'savant' Aspergers kid, who seems to know it all. But so far tastefully restrained, and not as self-flagellatory as the other Viking dystopian dramas. The Swedes have always had this ambivalence towards technology, necessary for cold-climate survival, but reproachable nonetheless. There's something very Freudian about it all - eggs, tunnels and the repression of 'stuff' deep down inside a mine.

As others have noted the pace is really slow and if you can't stand visual ambient or ambiguous interpretations, this might be too much. Personally I loved it for just those reasons. Psychological sci-fi that doesn't hold your hand. Minimal effects and no flow-breaking violence.

The first couple of episodes perfectly set the scene and were absorbing. Unfortunately, episodes 3 and 4 could have been cut altogether as they concentrated on personal relationships which, in context, were of no real interest. The last four episodes focused on the main storyline and I think they were well paced, leading up to a finish that was not really predictable. Some events were not explained to a conclusion, but I don't mind being left to think about the possible scenarios. In conclusion, 6 episodes would have been better than 8.