Fatherhood, creativity, desire, corruption, darkness and light.
Be good. Be kind. Be brave. Be different.
Set in New York City before mobile phones and the 'sanitation' of Lower East side and 42nd street, I'd say 1980, this series takes me back to NYC as I remember it from my student years.
Netflix calls it "emotional crime drama" but it is difficult to put a simple label or category on this six episode series. It's about what we hide, that which destroys us from within. About living true authentic lives, or risk loosing that which is most important for us - the things we love.
It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the father, going for broke fighting monsters and searching for his son Edgar. Gaby Hoffmann is the mother, and McKinley Belcher III the deeply complex Detective Michael Ledroit.
And the music! Screenrant has a list of music in the episodes: I’m Not In Love 10cc, Supernature Cerrone, These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) Billie Holiday, I’m So Hot For You Bobby O, A Forest The Cure, Gloria, Laura Branigan, Meet Me In The Morning Bob Dylan, Tupelo, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Heroin The Velvet Underground, Who Knows Where the Time Goes Fairpoint Convention, These Days, Nico.
The storyline uses a children's TV show, puppets, Vice and Missing persons police departments, underground dwellings, a night club, and the Sanitation services. All weaved together to tell this raw, brutal, and human story of love and monsters.
Monsters real and imagined are confronted in an ambitious undertaking that successfully balances true-crime realism with child-like awe and wonder. Review by Empire
SPOILER ALERT! For the Cinema Studies narrative perspective I want to mention some embedded values to be aware of...
- The man is, as always, alone and solely responsible for his situation. The woman has no option but to leave her partner - for a harmless man who feeds the homeless and the poor.
- Wealth creates misery and suffering. Our main characters personality is attributed to emotionally unavailable parents.
- Masculinity creates an environment which excludes homosexuals and people of color. Male solidarity and hierarchies is mainly used for covering up crimes.
Make it real.