To the Lake

I adore thrillers both in films and in literature. Furthermore, the scarier, the better for me. It is not a surprise that I fell in love with Yana Vagner's novel - Vongozero. For me it was an ultimate page turner, I literally couldn't tear myself from the book and binge-read it in three days.

Some time ago I heard about the series based on the novel. Unfortunately, I couldn't watch it among the first. But finally, I found an opportunity to dive into my favorite Universe and would like to share my first impressions with you. Some directors deliberately change a lot in the movie version and that often ruins the author's concept. In the case of this series the novel is treated very delicately.

Many characters and especially Anna look exactly the same as I imagined while reading the story and it's the best gift for all the fans of this novel, including me. Writing this text, I am wondering - how could have this book become a prediction of 2020!

The scariest part of both the book and the show is - that there are no zombies, no walking deads, yet it gives you the chill when you recognize these omens of our NEW NORMAL in it. And it takes courage to watch this series nowadays.

To The Lake: Virus runs rife, people coughing and dropping dead, you can tell they're infected by the reds of their eyes, so don't shot until you can see that. Moscow is sealed off, a plague city. Law and order breaks down, security units start looting. A group try to journey to a lake where they hope to find refuge on an island. Internal tensions in the group doesn't help. Quite violent with disturbing scenes. Interesting to see a Russian pandemic TV Series. On Netflix. 7/10.

I do love an end of the world/rampant virus/people going nuts type of drama, it has to be said. So this was right up my street.

I watched it dubbed, so I probably didn't get the best of it, but it was enjoyable all the same.

A bit of a culture shock in places. We Brits just don't tend to have that much nudity in our dramas! And, did it need so many boobs? Probably not, but hey, they were all cracking boobs!

I did get a bit tired of it halfway through, but after a few weeks off came back to it and I'm glad I did. The set up for the second season looks great. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Netflix to add it.

There's no spoilers here, but I will warn that there's a fair bit of sexual violence, albeit more threatened, than fully executed. I presume it goes back to the cultural thing.

And for anyone just wanting gore and action, I'd suggest you give it a try but know that this is more about the characters (even if they don't make that much sense - again, I'll assume the cultural difference).

Overall a solid series.

I'm so glad I don't live in the snow! I'll take constant drizzle any day! I'd have frozen to death on day one.

I've read the reviews , and some of them are rating this tv series 1 star , probably they wanted a zombie fight every 2 minutes ! , if you looking for that this is not for you ! . I watch a lot of movies and tv series , I know when something is worth watching and this is one of them ! - The story is great , sometimes looks like the characters made stupid bad decisions , but if you put yourself into that character you realize that the action they took is quite plausible.

People often make stupid decisions when are under stress or some cases !

The acting is really good I felt every character honorable mention to Polina ,Lyonya , and worked well with the story ! -

I do recomand this tv series , in my opinion is very good !

I had been looking for something new to watch, and randomly stumbled on a blog post gushing about this show. I decided to give it a shot, and could not stop watching over the course of 2 days.

If someone asked me to describe this show, I would say that it is a mix of "28 Days/Weeks Later" (2002, 2007) and "Contagion" (2011), with a uniquely Russian flair mixed in. I have never been exposed to a Russian producton before, and this show certainly set the bar high.

"To the Lake" follows an unlikely group of survivors as they attempt to battle their way out of Moscow, fleeing from a deadly virus that kills everything in its path within 3-4 days. The virus itself is shrouded in mystery, but the concept reminded me a lot of the aformentioned movie "Contagion". There are no zombies or supernatural entities found here; just a bleak depicition of mother nature's most efficient killing tool as it runs unchecked throughout Russia and beyond. I really appreciated this approach, and in my opinion, the show has a more realistic feel when compared to other pandemic shows that came before it (one AMC show in particular comes to mind...).

The editng and camera work were often reminiscent of the "28 Days" series, with hard cuts and shaky camera shots to help emphasize the horror and confusion of the situation. The cinematography was also excellent, and included some breathtaking shots of Russia's wilderness.

I only have a few minor gripes with the show. While the acting is excellent, there are moments where characters make some rather bewildering choices. My second issue is with the music; there are times where it feels out of place, or perhaps doesn't have the emotional impact that was intended. There are also times where the music is excellent, and reminded me (again) of the "28 Days" movies. Overall, it's a bit of a mixed bag.

With that being said, I definitely recommend this show. It's intense and bleak, but also has a uniquely human element to it that can be hard to capture in shows like this. If you like post apocalyptic movies/shows, definitely check this one out. For English speakers, I highly recommend watching this show in Russian with subtitles.