Topi

Very interesting serial. The best of directed and script.

Surprisingly good story, sometimes slow and repetitive, this little gem of a miniseries can keep you on the edge of your chair for prolonged periods of time. As the promo materials tell us the whole thing set in a remote Russian village and you'd expect it to be one of those werewolf or vampire carnivals with a predictable plot narrative but it goes a little further to unfold into something more far-reaching than just a simple suspense/thriller/horror flick. With limited number of characters the creators did manage to build up the sinister, ominous atmosphere that surrounds this tiny hamlet of Topi. Young talents shine here alongside experienced actors, casting turned out to be very successful. One thing you have to promise yourself is to watch through the entire series, as quite a few things become clear and many questions get answered in the final 60 minutes.

Topi at first seems to be an intrusive series that decided to show the mystical life of the Russian hinterland. The first series decently nudge the atmosphere and mysticism. But the actions are so prolonged, instead of 7 episodes there should be 4 maximum. The plot begins to sag closer to the middle. The ending does not explain anything at all, half of the storylines are torn. The final has no logical explanation at all. Dmitry Glukhovsky wrote the script for the series, Kinopoisk HD advertised it. And it turned out a very medium-quality series in which you can cancel except for the bad acting of the main characters.

Somewhat familiar genre tropes help to get through the first few episodes, while the plot gets going. Unfortunately, the further I went into Topi, the more captivating yet confused everything became.

Some of it feels like allusions to Bulgakov, yet the explicit scenes I still found over the top and not adding much to the story.

The ending left most of the storylines hanging, which was sadly quite predictable (or predetermined, if you will).

Don't regret the time spent watching this, mostly due to compelling performances from the cast (Max, Sonya and the police captain, to name a few) and a great setting.

Well that was complete waste of time... boring, bad acting and storyline of 70s mexican sope opera.