Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/q-436HdCWaU
With an opening 3mins that made us yell OH MY GOD the Netflix series Ares hooked us immediately. This gem is Netflix's first Dutch language original series, and it's made up of only 8 episodes of around 25mins each. It's a shortie, but a goodie.
So what's this one all about? Here's the description:
Rosa, an ambitious and intelligent college student with a trying home life, is recruited to join an exclusive and mysterious society.
This is not just a horror drama, this is an art piece. You can tell that this is a show that has been crafted with a lot of care and attention. From a visual point of view, this reminded me a lot of movies like Holy Motors , Beyond the Black Rainbow , Neon Demon , Eyes Wide Shut , and Suspiria .
It's not just a feast for the eyes though, the fact that it has a very intriguing story makes this a great package. The mystery of this and the slowly ramped up creepiness really pulled us in, and we were keen to go straight on to the next episodes each time the credits rolled. The lead actress, Jade Olieberg, who plays Rosa, is brilliant in this and does that thing I love where a lot of the emotion and range she shows is done without a word. Watching her deal with each turn and revelation was a joy to watch and her transformation throughout was a great character arc to follow along with.
The series does a good job of drip feeding you information and at no point did we feel like things were dragging. I love the way that a lot of new dramas are around the 30min mark rather than the traditional 40min to 45mins and Ares is a great example of how the shorter runtime can be used as a tool to lift a show and amp up the mystery and urgency.
If you like beautiful looking shows that make you feel uncomfortable, and drag you along with a good story and you can handle reading subtitles, I reckon this one deserves a spot on your watchlist.
