Aranyélet

10/10 in the Hungarian league, 8/10 in international level.

I have to admit i have seen only season one, but i do not see it as the depiction of the "Hungarian Reality" as so many reviewer does. But rather as an enormously good satire of the Hungarian swindlers who had their gold age in the turmoil of the 90's, they kind of got addicted to their routines, and they fail to realise, that the world in which they flourished shrinks to be a petty one. Like commit a life endangering, prison worthy crime for 1M Huf? (3000 Euro) In 2015? Serious?? Or parking the car everywhere, with a disability certificate, and it all serves as a status symbol? (For any possible reader from outside the postcom region: it is a status symbol, as it shows you managed to pay off the medical staff) Hillarious. So originally East European, so sourly funny. Why still 8 instead of 10? Because it resonates too well with the "you cannot make it in the right way" postcommunist worldview. And it is rather harmfull, here in Hungary. It is not realistic, and i even dont think, the series is about it. But it still conveys this message for almost all.

I'm Hungarian, and I'm the guy who just isn't interested in Hungarian movies/series at all in general. I started watching it because my mother insisted it's good, and let me tell you, it's extremely good. It's captivating from the first 5 minutes. I have a flatmate who also doesnt like Hungarian stuff, but he came in the room while I started it, and he also watched a whole episode! It's just full of action, full of drama, full of twists. The acting is really good. The emotions come through. I enjoyed EVERY minute of it, there is no filler content, it's a ride all the way. I can seriously recommend it to anyone who likes action/drama. This is literally the first review I do ever I think, because it's just so damn good. I'm shocked how good it is. From the first to the last minute, no boring part, just straight to the point. Maximum satisfaction in 1 hour. This is the epitome of good series, oh my god. Just watch the first 5 minutes, I will put my hand in the fire if you are able to stop. I'm just shocked that I only heard about this not so long ago, and I'm extremely critical about Hungarian shows, but this just blows my mind how good it is.

Edit: Watched season 2 as well. It just gets even better. There were multiple really tense situations. If you live in Hungary you can relate to those well, so it hit home with me. The acting is just brilliant, they got some extremely authentic criminal figures. So again, I'm really hard to impress, but this series just wins the cake.

Well deserved 9 points on Imdb ! To my knowledge, this is the first hungarian series ever to be aired in America. Watch,- you won't be disappointed.

I'm also very proud of the show, as it sheds light on the corruption in politics in my country where freedom of press is heavily suppressed, media is bought up by oligarchs close to the ruling party, and as such, government propaganda is everywhere.

A big part of the show, in fact its main theme, is showing the lives of such a family, where the father has (and gets) ties to various political and financial characters which enables him to further increase the quality of life for his family members - wife and two kids.

It's displayed in a very entertaining way however, as the other part of the show is about character development, interpersonal relationships, etc.

Thanks to HBO the production quality is excellent and it stands its ground as an international program enjoyable by anyone in the world. Even the local streak (the corruption) can be easily understood by anyone and they can assimilate with it as corruption is in any country to various degrees.

The 3 seasons show drastic changes in the characters in every possible way. It's dramatic and exciting.

A side note: HBO GO allowed watching the full final series on the day of ep1 release, which is unique to HBO GO, as HBO itself shows one ep per week. It was a great touch and rewarding the fans of the series allowing them to binge-watch the final season in one go if they choose to.

I can only recommend it wholeheartedly. 10/10

Storyline is quite good, it gots sense, acting of the majority is good... It's quite slow as well, too much time wasted on dull dialogs, while the final of the seriers is AMAZING! overall 9/10 But also. .. Mira acts indecisive in the beginning ,so irritating, then she becomes a star! Atila is quite soft on acting, then wakes up, Mark was quite harsh, then he explodes in emotions, nobody expected that, i am sure. GOOD GAME WELL PLAYED HBO AND CAST!