Narce

I decided to watch this mostly on the strength of Anya Taylor-Joy and her remarkable performances. Unfortunately, there is just too much of other stuff that makes this film less than it might have been.

First, the cinematography. There are just too many scenes where it was so dark I couldn't really see what was happening.

Next, the "score", that seems at times to be trying to evoke a feeling of horror by assaulting the eardrums with screeching noise. Not exactly John Williams, here.

And speaking of screeching noise, there are the twins, who are so annoying that I kept hoping *they* would disappear. Probably not the fault of the kids, more likely attributable to the director.

Then there's pacing. Innumerable shots of the father chopping wood. Scenes that are stretched out, as if they had the script for a one-hour movie and had to make it last 90 minutes. "We'll fix it in post, just splice in some of the B-roll footage." Again, I would lay the blame at the feet of the director.

Finally, the animals. The black ram that gets to spend the night with the children despite Thomasina's protestations. The black (charcoal?) rabbits that teem in the woods near the cottage. The wolves, notable for being unseen and unheard, but who bear a lot of the blame.

And if you suffer through to the last scenes, you get some sort of quasi-explanation of what you have been watching, but still basically unsatisfying.

I made it through 4 episodes before giving up on it. Bare bottoms and full-frontal nudity are OK in their place, but they seem to have been inserted here just to keep me from falling asleep. The writing and acting (with the possible exclusion of Mr. Tennant) were sub-par, verging on silliness. Having one of the characters groped to make her spill food on another character is R-rated 3 Stooges. And this from Disney? Walt must be spinning in his sarcophagus.

Alex Hassell is played up here as being irresistible to women, but I can't imagine why. He is callous, unfaithful, self-indulgent and looks like an overaged Rami Malek. And Aidan Turner's Declan is just strange, somehow able to stumble through an interview with a drunken guest as if he had the charisma of Johnny Carson.

They may be rivals, but they can't compete for my attention - there are better shows out there.

Season 2 started out with such a poorly-lit episode that I thought I was watching the Game of Thrones "Long Night" show that engendered so much controversy about its lack of visibility. Season 1 was never so light-challenged. This has been a complaint of mine before, and I'll say it again: just because you CAN shoot a show by candlelight using modern technology doesn't mean you SHOULD. Hollywood made a whole genre out of "film noir", but these films were all completely visible and watchable - think of Harry Lime and the black cat in The Third Man. Sorry, but I can't assume this Silo won't turn into an unlit pigsty, so I'm out!