Paradis City

It's like a show made in the 90s of how they thought the future would be. Bad casting, bad acting and bad costume. The dialogue is horrible as always when theater actors is trying to sound like normal people. I can't imagine this is what Jens Lapidus pictured when he wrote the novel it's based upon.

Too bad since the plot is pretty interesting and they have some interesting names in the cast as Abdallah and Gudnasson. But as with almost all tv in Sweden that tries to portray some sort of reality, it fails.

Watch instead the Netflix show Snabba Cash for a more dystopian look on Swedish society. Don't need to look into the future - it's here right now.

It's frightening near-future series that feels very relevant given the increasing gang crime in Sweden. This is a nightmare that doesn't feel unrealistic. It's a good serie and a moderately political action thriller. Even though there are some clichès, Paradise City is exciting and worth applauding. Stylish and fast-paced with impressive settings. The performance are generally as well. The serie "Snabba Cash" is also based on a book by Jens Lapidus, which was slightly better, but this one is more than worth watching. Six episodes feel perfect as it allows the pace to be maintained. I've watched 4 episodes and can hardly wait for the next one.

This is basically a different version of Banlieu 13/District 13 (French) and Escape from New York, take your pick. Both are just variations on the same theme society has devolved and walked off the lower echelons from the rest of the country. Which creates more problems than it solves.

Ultimately, someone decides to take matters into their hands and take a stand. Whether by choice or accident. In this case by choice. The main make character that is supposed to be an ex-MMA fighter doesn't look like he's ever taken a punch, or thrown one.

I've only watched the first episode but I honestly was hoping for better.

The wide opening shot of a wall surrounding the troubled suburbs of Stockholm in a near future gives the viewer hope - this could be interesting.

But... unfortunately, from that and onwards it's a fall into an amateurish abyss. Absolutely nothing is exciting, original or ever poignant. Instead the writing, directing and overall production is closer to a B or even C movie.

The overall look is especially poor - absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever.

And what exactly is the plot?!

I hope the book is better, because whoever wrote this adaption has little understanding of building a suspenseful narrative.

And it feels so low budget in comparison - but with more talented filmmakers one could have achieved a far more visual dystopian look. Budget or not.

For example, staging a scene where the prime minister is holding a speech in front of an angry crowd, a mob - is no small feat. You need resources or a talent for cheating - well. Here it comes off as a children's show.

If you want to have a "bad guy" as your protagonist - please do better. Make him more interesting. Not paper thin, cliché and moronic - just acting tough. Remember Snake Plissken?!

Yes it's not a masterpiece, but it isn't a total piece of trash either. 4.8/10 is WAY too harsh.

If you like realistic shows, then this is not for you. You have to set your mind to a different environment. After that, everything becomes easier. I personally enjoy a good political/conspiracy/spy thriller so I liked this.

The plot of the series without spoiling anything is basically: 2 political parties exist in Sweden. The one who wants a progressive society and the one who wants things to remain as they are, meaning no go zones where people considered as second class citizens live there and can't escape because there's a big wall that divides them from the rest of the country (reminds me of something..) An important member of the progressive party goes to that zone to hold a speech, protected by secret service agent Fredrika and a bunch of others. Things go south and that member gets kidnapped. Fredrika teams up with a citizen of that no go zone for reasons I can't spoil in order to find that party member. Conspiracies, lies, betrayals are essential parts of the plot. The 2 main actors do a great job.

Of course the show has its flaws. Sometimes it can get a little bit confusing, sometimes I had to pause and go back to the previous episodes to remember how we got there. Some important stuff that I couldn't understand because I could have missed that part. But I think you'll be good if you're up for a short binge watch (or even split it into two days). I also didn't necessarily enjoy Emir's wife storyline. That was the weakest sub plot of the series and it wasn't needed IMO. It added nothing at the end of the day. I was also a little disappointed by the finale, but that's just a personal opinion. It was disappointing but very realistic.

So, if you like something different, and you're up for political games, then give this show a try it's only 6 episodes, even if you watch an episode a day you'll be done in less than a week. Certainly don't be discouraged by the ratings here.

7.5/10.