‘Squid Game’
The Koreans excel at subtle art-house horror films, notably the Oscar-winning “Parasite.”
But this latest Netflix sensation is a survival drama and is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to your knee. Exactly 456 — they wear numbers — miserable, debt-ridden men and women agree to be carted off to a deserted island, where they join games in which the winners get rich and the losers get brutally eliminated.
Players are controlled by masked guards with machine guns, and VIPs led by a big shot in black control them.
A few attempts to steer this ludicrous premise into a metaphor for class struggle or income inequality fall flat, and so is there any reason to join the crowds?
Maybe.
The contests — deadly extensions of kids’ games — are clever, visually impressive, and suspenseful, and the players’ characters are fleshed out enough so that you care for them. They form relationships that are genuinely touching at times.
The violence is nonstop and does not end with the death of the losers; they are placed fussily in coffins with bows and sent below to be chopped into small pieces and sold to Chinese organ merchants.
If you like dystopian thrillers and have a strong stomach, try carefully sticking your toe into these bloody waters. You can always back out and watch one of the other vastly superior shows I cover in this article.
‘Babylon Berlin’
You step into another world in this dazzling German series, the most expensive foreign production to date.
It is 1929 Berlin. The Weimar Republic is collapsing into a society of roaring ’20s hedonism and corruption.
The story centers on police inspector Gereon Rath (Volker Bruch) and his lovely aide, Charlotte Ritter (Liv Lisa Fries), who are investigating a train hijacking and extortion scheme.
One plot leads to another, and you may find yourself scratching your head at times. The mystery thriller is just one part of a sweeping panorama that makes most American productions seem timid.
The best comparison I can make is to the great Kander and Ebb musical “Cabaret,” and part of this show’s appeal lies in its wonderful dance and musical numbers. On Netflix.
‘Unorthodox’
Esty Shapiro (Shira Haas) is a 19-year-old woman living in an unhappy arranged marriage in an ultra-Orthodox community in Brooklyn.
She flees to Berlin, where her estranged mother lives, and falls in with a group of international music students.
Meanwhile her husband and a shady cousin fly to Berlin in an attempt to track her down.
There is a lot packed into four episodes: a look inside a Hasidic sect, a pursuit thriller, and a young woman’s painful road to self-discovery.
Maria Schrader, who won an Emmy for outstanding direction of a limited series, impeccably directs it all. Dialogue is primarily in Yiddish, with some German and English. On Netflix.
‘Prisoners of War’
The New York Times called this 2010 Israeli drama the best foreign show of the decade, and I’ve not seen anything to dispute that.
Often compared to “Homeland,” this spy thriller tells the story of two Israeli soldiers who return home after 17 years of captivity and torture. Although there is plenty of suspense, the thriller element is less important than the heartbreaking story of the soldiers’ attempt to reconnect to their family and friends.
There are moving performances by Yoram Toledano as Nimrode, Ishai Golan as Uri, and Mili Avital(who lives in the Hudson River Valley with her husband, screenwriter Charles Randolph) as Uri’s former fiancée.
“Prisoners” is no longer available for streaming on Amazon but you can buy the DVDs, or borrow Season 1 through the Bibliomation loan system at all Connecticut libraries.
