Indian real detective, British Romkom and American erotic science fiction

Three new unusual series that should wait

The American Festival of Independent Cinema "Sandance" in Park City after Berlin and Toronto continues to develop a serial program. This year, three especially interesting television shows were shown here - the Indian detective “Crime in Delhi”, the British Romk “Regulation in the Country” and American fiction “And now the Apocalypse”. The series will be released on Netflix, Sundancetv and Starz since March 2019. Film critic Yegor Moskvitin tells why each of them should be seen.

"Crime in Delhi" (Delhi Crime)

On Netflix from March 26

An independent Indian series, which was bought by Netflix right during the festival - and will be released, according to the director, on March 26. Before us is True Crime Fiction in the American meaning of these words-an artistic reconstruction of a real police investigation, which once shocked India and the whole world.

On the evening of December 16, 2012, the police discovered naked young people lying on the side of the road in the arms of each other in the south of each other. The winter cold helped to deliver them alive to the hospital: if not for the weather, the girl would have died from pain shock. Having come to his senses, the young man told what happened. Returning from the cinema, they got on the bus. It had six men. All of them, including the driver and conductor, beat the guy and raped the girl. The very next day, the whole city recognized about what happened - and mass protests began on the streets, and dismissal in the police.

This naturalistic and tense series looks like a report of stubborn journalists who do not lag behind investigators for a minute. The camera shakes, and the credits constantly flash at the bottom of the screen: the time of the day, the place of action, the name and the title of an officer. The real investigation was carried out so quickly that the director Richie Mecht (an Indian living in Canada) went to a trick - and showed how the day of each heroes on the eve of the crime passed. Otherwise, the viewer simply would not have time to get to know them.

The investigation is conducted by an experienced and respected woman detective, whose daughter goes to rallies and thinks to leave for Toronto; The young idealist who came to Delhi from the province and just stood up for service; The head of the police station, mired in papers and politics; A cheerful old man and several young men-inexperienced, but brave. Pseudo -order shooting, the high dynamics of the narrative and a convincing acting game closer to the Indian series closer to the level of the American "wiretap". And the construction of the frame and color solutions remind of the “one night” with the HBO channel, with which director Richie Mecht worked a lot.

The first Indian series on Netflix - “Sacred Games” - was a stylization of Indian history for Western drama; The series "Crime in Delhi" is truly distinctive. The viewer, wherever he is, begins to empathize with the heroes from the first minutes. There are studies of the nervous reactions of the audience to the series, claiming that the brain simply does not agree to go to bed until what is happening on the screen comes in accordance with our ideas about good and justice. I would like to catch criminals from the Crime in Delhi as soon as possible - therefore, the audience who dare to plunge into this gloomy history will probably look at all seven episodes in a row.

"Regulation in the country"

On Sundance TV, the release date is unknown

A conversational mini-series, which consists of 10 episodes of 10 minutes each. His script is arranged in such a way that watching the show is equally interesting both as a full -fledged film and as short episodes. Almost all the action takes place at the PABA table in London. Once a week, a husband and wife are found here to skip a glass of wine and a pint of beer in front of the sessions from a family psychotherapist living across the road. The sessions themselves remain behind the scenes, and there are no secondary heroes, with the exception of several other couples. Most of the time, the heroes simply sit at the table and discuss their marriage - but the dialogs are written very witty. Starring - Chris O'Daud from "Computers" and Rosamund Pike - an actress, equally convincing in the costume drama "Pride and Prejudice", the lyrical comedy "Hector in Search for Happiness" and in the thriller "Disappeared".

In 100 minutes, the heroes manage to discuss everything in the world: “Brexit”, Syria, the features of Soviet poster art, the problems of American cinema, treason and children. The concept of the whole show and several separate episodes were invented by Nick Hornby - a British theater playwright and writer, at least two novels of which turned into excellent films (“My boy” with Hugh Grant and Fanatic with John Kusak). And the director was Stephen Frirs, twice nominated for an Oscar - for “throwing” and “queen”.

In this series there is everything for which the world loves British romantic comedies: witty dialogs, paradoxical observations about life and a sense of family comfort and safety - even in the most stressful situations for the hero and viewer. Two and a half years ago, the online cinema of Amazon set a similar task to Woody Allen, but the “position in the country” turned out to be even funnier, more interesting and dynamic than the Allenian mini-series “Six Scenes Crisis”.

“And now - Apocalypse”

On Starz from March 10

The wild, sexy, strange and funny series “And now - Apocalypse” is easiest to describe as a hybrid of the other three. Firstly, it begins exactly like “prodigal California”, only this time the lover is by surprise, the lover runs away from the bedroom of a man, not women. The main character is the name of Ulysses, he is a gay in the prime of strength in Los Angeles and, as follows from his behalf, a real sexy ode is waiting for us. Another important character is the heterosexual friend of Ulysses, whose girl insists on polyamore relationships. The third is their common friend, a model who studies in an acting studio, and earns life by striptease and masturbation in front of a webcam.

Secondly, the show is very reminiscent of the recent “sex education” with Netflix, only about older heroes. This is also a kind of visual guide, telling the viewer about the diversity and ethics of modern relations. Moreover, this is not only about the personal problems of the heroes: the series willingly commenting on the American news agenda, for example, the situation with Harassment in Hollywood.

And, finally, thirdly, “now-the apocalypse” is similar to “American gods”, because something was wrong with Los Angeles here. The tramps at the metro whisper that the end of the world is approaching. One of the heroines leads some paranormal scientific research in a mysterious corporation. When Ulysses and his lover experience an orgasm, a strange glow arises in the sky above the city. And the hero constantly dreams of the same nightmare. In it, a man is raped at an abandoned factory. A rapist is a reptiloid similar to a monster from the series of the 1960s. In order to fully understand and accept this wild humor, you need to watch the previous films that shot the series director Gregg Araki, the favorite of the Sandance festival, who torn a standing ovation now. Or just accept on faith that this is a funny, seductive, timely show produced by Stephen Sodaberg, definitely worthy of viewing.

Egor Moskvitin