Anthracite

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.

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...

Anthracite is set in a small village in the Alps, that was shaken to its core in 1994, when the collective suicide of a sect called Les Ecrins hit the headlines.

Don't let Ida's character irritate you at the beginning of the series, she will change quickly and is much more bearable.

The plot moves around quickly, while the beautiful surroundings of the Swiss Alps make for a great visual backdrop, and the cast makes the most of the many twists and turns that the series has to offer. It delivers a great blend of suspense and humour, making it really intriguing.

Anthracite is the kind of big hamburger full of sauce and ingredients that you know will stain you. And even though there are times when it seems unclear where the show is going, it skillfully keeps things moving forward by adding really good turns and surprises, making for an engaging and exciting story.

The series explores dark themes, leaving the audience intrigued, it is worth the watch!

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.

A girl goes looking for her disappeared father and finds out major secrets about herself and a city. Plenty of twists and killings, but for the most part the characters maintain more of a lighthearted borderline comedic vibe.

This show isn't great but its better than the average in several ways.

Ida is a star and lights up the screen in her scenes! She is mainly outrageous and hilarious, but also shows darker sides of personality. The show would have been 1 star without her performance/character.

The setting/scenery is another major plus for this show. The show avoids the pale/dreary stereotypical look of euro crime series. It also shows many beautiful mountains, drives, buildings etc, putting the viewer deeper into that region more firmly than most shows.

The pacing of the show could have been better. The show starts strong then glides a bit and then they packed too much into the final episode, could have added one more episode or paced it better to fit.