The Changeling

I love the cinematography displayed here. The acting is spot on but just like everyone else has said, the story is just all over the place. It's slow paced and goodness gracious, boring. It's what you get when you take a 'not so great' book and try to turn it into a series. I guess you can call this a thriller, because it's not scary at all.

Just finished watching episodes 1-3 and sadly I am really not excited to continue watching. But affer reading a couple of great reviews here, am kinda curious to see what they talking about. And I truly want to be wrong so am gonna try and watch 4 and see.

Look out for my updated review afterwards.

Update: Nuuh, not for me, episode 4 was just as boring and ridiculous as the first 3. It quickly went from supernatural to just plain old nonsense. Am done.

I've read the book so I think I know where this is going.

What I can't understand, 7 episodes in, is how they managed to get the pacing so badly wrong The first three episodes are pretty good. They actually go faster than the book (which has it's own problems with pace and genre hopping transitions) and set out the stall of magic realism/folk horror from the start, but they've stretched the middle part if the story beyond breaking point, adding in backstory which was not in the books and which killed the pace completely.

I will watch the denouement but my fear is that having wasted two episodes (6 & 7) telling us nothing we needed to know, the ending will be rushed, confused or worse still delayed until a second season.

It felt more complimentary; not to be spoon fed the whole bowl of porridge and instead puzzle along the pieces of each episode.

Lakeith Stanfield shines in his ability to portray a character that feels grounded and complex. While Adina Porter brings a graceful presence and Malcom Barret provides a warm sprinkling of comedic relief to the uncertain horror.

This series opens with the classic line "Once upon a time" over a ship battling stormy seas. Narration reels the viewer through a flowing multi-current of journeys. Embarking on two similar and (perhaps not obvious) related stories of boy-meets-girl. The progression of both couples relationships is well distinguished by utilising the shifting time periods through sound and visual affect.

The sweet and airy nature of the initial pacing twists itself into a spiral as (Clark Backo's character) Emmy, finds herself caught in a questionable darkness amid a crescendo of unsettling and tense scoring.

I found it neither slow or boring while character connections were established. The light start is littered with breadcrumbs of skillful shots from the director to develop the backstory and engage the viewer.

Kudos to the wardrobe, SFX and set teams as they seem to have been passionate in their work. They complimented the directors storytelling and added differentiating hints of nostalgia and colour theory.

So far it has left me wishing for more.

The series is quite controversial, managing to both captivate and disappoint viewers simultaneously. Its intrigue lies in the mystery surrounding the events, although the creators tend to unnecessarily prolong and complicate the plot, detracting from the overall experience. It's comparable to adding excessive details, like an abundance of sauce, to the main dish.

One of the main criticisms towards this show is its occasional boredom and lack of significance. There are moments where it becomes tempting to stop watching and not waste any more time. Episode 5, in particular, created confusion as the main character unexpectedly transformed from a foe to a devoted follower of the "cult" and a faithful puppet to the "witch" (sarcastically speaking).

Episode 6 attempts to present the story from the perspective of the "wife," but skipping this episode wouldn't lead to any significant loss since it merely retells what has already been mentioned with negligible additional information. At this point, the idea of discontinuing the series feels like a reasonable course of action to take.

In episode 7, we witness a performance that lacks true meaning. The actions seem to be influenced by a woman's memories, but the mechanics behind this connection remain elusive. If asked how it works, the answer would be a resounding "I do not know." These hallucinations might be a result of excessive tranquilizer use, making it advisable to avoid the misuse of psychotropic drugs and the creation of such meaningless narratives.

In the end, the series can be considered "average" but is not suitable for everyone. Personally, I discontinued watching after episode 7 as I couldn't stomach the mundane pseudophilosophy presented by a gifted yet neurotic individual.

The story starts out with an interesting premise. It plants seeds of intrigue. Yet, it meanders so much that I am having a hard time finding a reason to keep watching.

Rather than letting the acting and dialog tell the story, there is an overwhelming amount of narration makes the show BORING. For example try suffering through Episode 7, it is horrible.

In general, the story is ALL OVER THE PLACE. Just when you think you found the storyline and can engage - they jump to another storyline - filled with more monologue and narration.

This would have been better suited as a podcast rather than a TV show.