Anthracite

I loved all of the characters but especially loved Ida...l thought she was refreshing and played well off of the the other characters. The story was compelling and held my interest with all of the twists and turns. Having it set in the mountains was a great idea along with the mines and bio lab. It kept you guessing as to whether it was horror or something that could really happen. The cult was quite accurate as to how cults work l found all of the possibilities intriqing. Having been in the alps several times ,the mysterious feeling in the ancient villages can be quite eerie .l highly recommend this series as l binged it all in one day.

Anthracite: 1994, a murderous cult commit mass suicide in Levionna in the French Alps, the only survivor being the cult leader. 2024, a journalist who had covered the original story is apparently kidnapped, his web sleuth daughter goes to Levionna to investigate. Another body turns up, are the cult active again? This series involves many plot twists and may well be a tad too lever for it's own good. It's worthwhile sticking with Anthracite though, convoluted as the plot is it involves many interesting tropes. A pharmaceutical company which may be carrying out secret tests on the local populace, a possible serial killer responsible for many disappearances over the last ten years, strange abandoned coal mines which are being reopened by the pharmaceutical company. There are some soap like elements to the plot and who is whose father/mother brother/sister theme which makes you hear dueling banjos playing in the background. It has enough, tension and action to keep you interested as gory violent scenes accumulate plus a nurse who could give Nurse Ratchet a run for her money. Directed by Julius Berg, Written by Fanny Robert, Maxime Berthemy, Sophie Lebarbier, Mehdi Ouahab. Six episodes in Netflix. 7.5/10.

The Ida character in the beginning does take some getting used to (she can come across as annoying in the first episode) but by the second / third episode the story and characters start to unravel.

A few good plot twists that were unexpected and keeps you guessing till the end.

Six episodes in length also ensures that the story / series is not drawn out with pointless plot fillers and dialogue.

Some negatives: some characters are annoying and some aspects of the plot are not fully explained or seem pointless.

The series delivers just enough to keep you invested. Good watch overall for fans of thriller mystery genre.

Small town mystery tropes include: (1) People holding onto secrets for a long time (2) Mythologies around unsolved crimes (3) Embarrassing or criminal relational connections (4) "Outsiders" who are more connected to the small town than they knew

Anthracite has all those tropes and more and was still a fun ride. Ida's quirkiness was fine but her French so fast at points that i needed to replay some of her scenes.

Surprisingly Jaro was bewildered to be the object of every woman's affection except his ex's. Was he that clueless?

But seriously, it was fun watching the mystery u fold and trying to figure out why people did what they did and if the characters we came to care about would get what they needed.

I recommend. And 6 episodes is the sweet spot! USA productions need to keep that in mind!

I binged watched in two days. From the first episode the story hooks you and then takes you on a crazy, twisty, turny rollercoaster ride right up to the 6th episode. There is so much plot, but you can keep up, I loved Ida from the start, she is endearing, vulnerable and simply a delight, I am not sure why she gets such negative reviews.

The story is jam packed with demon cult activity, protestors, incest, murder, more murder, car chases. Weird mountain people, dead sheep, poison and confused cops. You won't be sorry.

What I really enjoyed, was that it ended without any loose ends and questions. If you love a good thriller with a whole lot of story line, this one's for you.

I was left wanting more...