Bâtards

This series will take you from the very first scenes. Playing with the standards of reality TV, it pushes the limits to show us a black satire of a near future world. It is well done and will make you smile and cringe at the same time.

Where do I begin?

OK, let's start with the actors. Few of them seem to have had any or much prior experience to this series or subsequently. Fortunately, the episodes are just ten minutes long, so the task was not too onerous for them. The trouble was, they didn't rise to the challenge. The kids were hopeless abd the adults unconvincing.

The the plot. Utterly risible. The "challenges" the contestants were exposed to were ludicrous. In addition, the players were mismatched. The winner of the second challenge was twice the size and weight of her opponent. And a word about that second challenge. How do the producers and directors imagine that choking other kids is remotely acceptable in this day and age of an epidemic of it amongst teenagers?

There was so much that was wrong here. Even the overall concept of encouraging hatred and extreme competition between children was quease-making.

Give it a miss.

I really struggled at first. I found myself thinking, "What the hell am I watching...?" The satiric tone felt off and the whole thing came across as a bit clumsy.

But weirdly enough, something kept me watching and by the end, I was really moved. Mila and Rocky's story snuck up on me. The ending of episode 6 is beautifully directed and edited (I don't know how they managed to get LCD Soundsystem, but that really made it all climax in a wonderful way).

In the end, I must say liked it. It might not be groundbreaking, but it's an engaging web piece that makes you question your own reception of images and visual culture in general.