So fresh: 15 Netflix Originals released this year
Netflix has been heavily investing in creating original content over the last few years, and in the first months of 2020, the platform has already seen a fair amount of new films and TV series that you might be interested in. In this post I've compiled 15 new releases, including the provocative Messiah, a documentary about Taylor Swift, a new Sci-Fi series and more.
This post was originally written in Russian on February 08 2020. Mostly translated with deepl.com (free version)
1. The Pharmacist A documentary mini-series about an ordinary pharmacist from Louisiana who, after losing his son, begins his own investigation into his murder and then investigates the massive pharmaceutical lobby and opioid epidemic in his own state. The story is about an ordinary man struggling with a major problem and is rated as a must-see for fans of documentaries of this format.
IMDB: 8.1 / Kinopoisk: - (Please note that the series only came out on February 5)
2. Messiah
The story is about a CIA agent who begins to investigate a man who calls himself the Messiah and claims to have saved Damascus from an Islamic State raid. The series, as openly stated by the author, is provocative and acclaimed by one of my best friends, so it's probably worth your attention.
3. October Faction (Season 1)
Based on the popular comic book series, the series is about two teenage twins who find out that their parents don't actually work for an insurance company but for a monster extermination organisation. Kind of like Men in Black with elements of family drama. In spite of a very good trailer, the series fails to catch on after watching the first episode, so I safely abandoned it.
4. Airplane Mode
A Brazilian film about an online influencer girl who is sent by her parents to a village without internet, where she is likely to discover the joys of a simple life and find true love. Started to watch it, but closed it because of the terrible English audio sync (Maybe they'll fix it soon). Judging by the reviews, it's a regular budget flick, but may be enough to pass the weekend.
5. Rise of Empires: Ottoman
A documentary mini-series which details Mehmed II's campaign to conquer Constantinople. It is the rare case where the documentary is truly epic and interesting, so I can safely recommend it for viewing.
6. Miss Americana
A documentary about Taylor Swift that talks about the difficulties she faced on her ascent to Olympus, sexism, her political views, controversial image in the media and much more. The director is said to be quite good, so it's easy to watch and overall quite interesting in its own right (at least that's what I read).
7. Cagaster of an Insect Cage (Anime)
In the story, a disease has been raging in the world for thirty years, turning people into huge insects. The story is about an exterminator named Kido, who is asked by a dying man to help his daughter find her mother. The anime has 3D graphics and judging by the number of reviews, it's not very popular yet.
8. Locke & Key
Based on a popular graphic comic book, the series tells the story of the Locke family, who, after the brutal murder of their father, move into an abandoned family home and try to start a new life. In the house, the children discover magical keys and then an evil monster hunts for those keys. Mystery, elements of horror and family drama. Possibly has the potential to become the new under-the-radar series.
IMDB: 8.0 / Kinopoisk: - (The series was released on February 7, so the rating is still raw)
9. Pandemic: How to prevent an outbreak
A documentary mini-series about the people who are contributing to the fight against different types of influenza and trying to prevent future global outbreaks. Symbolically, the series was released right around the time of the 2019-nCov coronavirus outbreak. Not a massive product, but probably will appeal to someone.
10. Ragnarok
A Norwegian-Danish-produced series in which serious climate changes in a small Norwegian town herald a new Ragnarök, which the trailer suggests will be fought by teenagers, who of course are not like everyone else. Elements of Norse mythology, good rating, only six small episodes, probably a really good series.
IMDB: 7.6 / Kinopoisk: 6.78 (Released January 31)
11. Luna Nera
The main character is a teenage girl who discovers that she is destined for an unpleasant fate, as her entire family is of witch lineage (copy-paste from seasonvar). The setting is 17th century Italy, where witches are not particularly favored. Cherry on top - girl's boyfriend is a descendant of the witch hunters. Based on the reviews, not a bad series with a rather uncomplicated plot.
IMDB: 6.2 / Kinopoisk: - (The series was released on January 31)
12. The Stranger
Everything in Adam Price's life goes good on until a stranger comes along who discovers his wife's terrible secret and gets him involved in an even more confusing story. Judging by the reviews, it's a good enough detective thriller, with a minimum of formulaic dialogue and plenty of interesting plot twists. Based on the novel of the same name by Harlan Coben (in case you are familiar with his works).
13. Spinning Out
After a serious injury, a promising figure skater played by Kaya Scodelario (Theresa from "The Maze Runner") gets the opportunity to return to the ice now with a partner, and tries to balance love, family, and shaky mental health (attempt to translate verbatim from IMDB). Judging by the reviews, the series focuses more on the emotional suffering of the main character rather than on the figure skating. If you like different soap operas, you should go for it.
14. My Holo Love (Korean Drama)
The main character, Han So-Yeon, suffers from prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces) and decides to shut herself off from the outside world. But suddenly, she reveals her heart to holographic assistant Holo, whose appearance is based on the developer Ko Nan-do (copy-paste from Kinopoisk). Suddenly, she meets and kisses the developer, and so on.
IMDB: 7.2 / Kinopoisk: - (The series was released on February 7)
15. Uncut Gems
The film was actually first screened at an international film festival back in August 2019, but it only appeared on the streaming platform in 2020, so I added it to this list after all. In the story, Howard Ratner (played by Adam Sandler) is the owner of a small jewellery shop who can't imagine life without betting on games, so he's up to his neck in debt and constantly hiding from creditors (copy-paste from Kinopoisk). The movie has good ratings, and some say it is one of the best performances of Adam Sandler's career.