Beau Séjour

From the USA, I thoroughly enjoyed this show. It sucked me in more than I thought, especially for a somewhat slow burner. I was afraid it would be another Netflix series that just fizzled after a few episodes, but this did not disappoint. If you enjoy a dark mystery and a night in, check out this show.

To the people who keep writing reviews complaining of English dubbing, you can literally select the original audio track and put on subtitles! There is no way I would have ever watched it with dubbing.

I'm always looking for something new, and the description on Netflix sucked me in. Although it started a little slowly, there was enough to keep my interest going and I was not disappointed. Part of the "charm" for me is the subtitles (I had to Google where Flemmish was spoken) and I believe that having to read them forces you to pay more attention...which is a good thing. I guess if you take Dutch, French and a few pieces of English and wad it all up, you get Flemmish...this was the first time I've seen a series with that language and it's not so hard to understand.

Anyway, the story was great and kept me guessing till the end. I believe this was rated TV 14 in Belgium, but it would be considered to "vulgar" for TV over here so Netflix has given us this dark little gem of a series. Murder, drugs, corruption and a few dysfunctional families make this typical of many American crime drama stories, the international flavor seems to make it even darker and more horrifying. Great stuff!

To me, Hotel Beau Séjour was probably the best show I've seen on Netflix, and the best whodunit/thriller since The Killing. It's never dull, doesn't get soapy despite its length and isn't full of the clichés that make story telling easy, but characters unbelievable. The acting is very natural, and the production level is high, certainly for Belgian standards, where the budgets are rather small.

The plot is not the series' main strength. In fact, I thought the final bit of detection was the weakest point.

Instead, the series' strength is the telling of the everyday lives of ordinary people, sucked up in a world they don't completely understand and control, and how that can lead to the death of a young girl. It is a story of weakness, the weakness that defines the human condition. The whole business is common and sordid, but can only be told by showing the entire context, from the laissez-faire attitude of a farmer via the failures of a drunk headmaster to the clumsy sexuality of a simpleton. The truth can finally only be seen through their despair and helpless attempts to make something out of their lives, and the writers can only be praised for making almost every character a round and integral part of the story. In that sense, this series provides a deeply compassionate view on society and all its flaws.

I really enjoyed watching this show, so much so that I stayed up til after 1am last night finishing it off and I'm a teacher who has to be at school ungodly early. I probably wouldn't have chosen to watch this on my own. I started the show after my 3 year old got hold of the remote and put it on thinking it was something else, and when I heard the music I thought, "what kind of weird, foreign show is this?" But I turned it back on later and watched the first episode, considering it pretty interesting. I was skeptical at first of the whole undead/ghost plot and wasn't sure how to deal with it plausibly, but quickly became entrenched in the characters and really found myself enjoying each episode. I literally watched the majority of the season last night, because I could not turn it off. I kept saying, "this is the last one," and then it would be such a crazy cliffhanger, that I had to see what happened next. I actually didn't guess the killer until the very end, which I think is fantastic. There were lots of twists and turns, but even more important than plot twists was just that I thought it very good and steadily captivating. It had good acting and writing. It was dark, but I was peaceful at the end. It wasn't hokey, though it was sad. I felt settled after finishing and glad that I'd watched it.

This was recommended by the weekly New York Times "What to Watch" column. And I have mostly enjoyed their picks. I like mysteries and the twist of this one - the murder victim's ghost tries to solve her own murder - was intriguing. I found it totally absorbing. I have never been to Belgium so was fascinated by the culture, architecture, etc. The theme music grabbed me and the atmosphere of the production got to me as well. I pride myself on predicting outcomes of murder mysteries, but this one totally eluded me. I really like being surprised like that. I found the ending very moving. Would love to see more from the group that made this.