The Kettering Incident

I really enjoyed this series. Based on the synopsis on Amazon, I didn't expect a show full of paranormal events akin to something you would find in a really good season of the X- Files. I was reminded of the storytelling in Lost - always more questions are raised than answered. But that is what kept me watching Lost for several seasons because let's be honest, once they start answering questions with implausible stories or bad cg aliens then we lose interest. The mystery is what I enjoy. And this show throws them at you thick and fast. I found this show to be utterly intriguing with some very fine acting from the whole cast. Lots of tension and suspense, yet not too creepy to scare me off. (Almost, though) This is a great show for fans of shows like The X Files and Stranger Things. I am looking forward to the next season!

I'm rarely sold by ad campaigns but this one got me early, and I'm grateful. Clea's rendition of Crimson and Clover played dreamily over glowing lights and floating moths as the traliers expanded over the weeks until we glimpsed some of the nightmare to come last night. Woods and Krawitz exploit the Twin Peaks mountains and forest locations, the camera rolling at magma pace over a gorgeous slate-filtered Tasmanian backdrop. There's even something of the early X-Files atmosphere to this, made modern and Australian as a deeply intelligent script drip-feeds character and back-story in creepy and surreal flashes. As good as it is, this show belongs to Elizabeth Debicki, who is on career-making form as the disheveled and twitchy Dr. Anna Macy. A far cry from her American-accented turn as the Bond-girl-like Jed in the Night Manager, Debicki's nuanced Thin White Duchess performance pitches perfectly between vulnerable and unsettling. Delivering her lines in low, cultured tones and frequently shot as an unmoving silhouette framed in door or window frames, or in centre close-up (that scream is a visual and auditory shock) this is compelling stuff indeed. 9/10.

Anna Macy (played by Elizabeth Debicki) is a highly-regarded doctor, working at a hospital in London. Suffering from frequent headaches and other ill-health, she returns to her home town of Kettering, Tasmania. She left the town under a cloud 15 years earlier after her best friend Gillian disappeared. Back now, she finds that the old animosities remain. Moreover, the strange phenomena that accompanied Gillian's disappearance remain and another girl has disappeared.

Started very intriguingly. There was a slow-burning intensity about the main plot with some interesting sub-plots. Elizabeth Debicki put in a solid performance in the lead role and the supporting cast were fairly good too.

The series did seem padded, however, but I figured that it would soon ramp up the pace and the payoff would be worth all the effort.

Sadly, no. The pace never quickens. The whole thing just drifts throughout. As for a payoff, the conclusion is convoluted, random, confusing and anticlimactic. It all seems set up for a second season, though apparently this is a mini-series.

Disappointing.

Since I've never traveled to Tansmania, the scenery is breathtaking. Prepare to watch this movie with a question mark in your face from beginning to end. ESPECIALLY the end! Performances are middle to better than usual. Imo, I think the movie description should be reworded. When I first read the description, I thought "oh, another missing girls & wrongly accused" plot. The plot in this movie is more about a childhood mystery & the quest to find truth. Definitely worth a binge night.

I'm glad I didn't read the other reviews before I started watching The Kettering Incident because I'm absolutely hooked! I just stumbled upon it and I'm so glad I did. I personally find it to be an intriguing balance between what is revealed and what is held back in each episode. What some reviewers find "slow paced" I just find to be good mystery and tension.

This certainly isn't the only crime show from Down Under I've enjoyed. I was a big fan of "No Activity" (which was a comedy, so quite different from this) and "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries" is one of my favourite shows. But as a Canadian, I really have to rely on the internet to access Australian shows, and I don't always hear about them. I'm glad I came across this gem!

The tone and pace reminds me a little bit "Wallander" (I've only seen the British version with Kenneth Branagh), but perhaps with a supernatural twist? I haven't finished the series yet, so I'm not really sure what the "answer" is. Can't wait to find out though!