Black Narcissus

I cannot help but compare this with the 1947 movie of the same name. This may not be fair but I cannot separate the two. In a lot of ways, this remake is a lot more coherent than the original. At least I found it easier to follow which may be a detriment. Easier turns into simpler and overall, flatter than the original. It misses opportunities to be weird, ambiguous, humorous that the 1947 version did not. My advice, watch the original...obviously. If for no other reason than to see a large man bouncing on a small burro up and down the Himalayas. Then compare it to the simple horse in 2020/ Just one example of greatness vs average.

I thoroughly enjoyed this three part series, a dark, intense series, packed with tensions, undertones, and a ghostly gothic vibe.

Anyone watching this expecting an action packed drama, perhaps has never read the book, that was never the direction of the original text, instead you get an intense character driven story of repression, passion and jealousy.

Gemma Arterton is the true standout, her performance is excellent throughout, Rosie Cavaliero, Aisling Franciosi and Gina McKee are very good also.

It looks sublime, bright vibrant colours contrasted against the simplicity of the nuns, vast, breathtaking landscapes, it's a visual feast.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, a nice end to 2020, 8/10.

I loved the authenticity of this film!

Honestly ive seen loads of nuns over my years and they all had loads of makeup on and perfectly fashioned eyebrows with shaved heads......

This was three 1.5 hr episodes. Episode 2 was useless. Even with only the first and third episode, I never really saw a story. Why was there a haunting? Did the German monks have the same haunting? Does it only affect women? I'll leave the source of the name a secret. But, it was very lame and is not related to the baseline(?) haunting story.

The story was interesting enough, and much better than the usual fare in the "nuns + supernatural" genre. The acting was excellent, as well as the script, though a little slow: basically it's a three hour suspense/drama movie, not a series.

The elephant in the room (or behind the palace) was the fake scenery. This could have been a minor flaw in the execution, except that the fake view was heavily featured throughout, with the apparent intent to be awe-inspiring. But it just seemed to be an actual vista inserted onto a green screen behind the palace set, and/or via CGI. And then when certain effects were added to the skyline to further the plot, they looked hopelessly amateurish and even more fake.