Not your usual series… usually that is a good thing… and this is a confirmation of the rule.

“The OA” appeared out of nowhere, at least it seemed like that to me and I like the filmmakers quite a bit … so I keep an yet on what they’re up to. But there it was, one day to the next available on Netflix.

First of all let me say, I just checked the series rate on IMDB and its a 8… honestly I was expecting something much lower… not because of the quality of the show… but rather due to the peculiarity of it. It’s not something we usually see in mainstream Tv.

I was talking to a friend of mine and he said, he has tried to watch it, but found it boring. So there are people who have this point of view, and in fact I was expecting it to be the norm.

“The OA” is a series created by Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling. They both wrote ii, while he directed all the episodes and she played the lead.

This team’s previous work deserves to be mentioned here.

They did a movie called “Sound of my voice” also written by both, where we can find some similarities to the series.

One thing I never really understood is how that movie was seen by so few people. Like their next film “The East”, they are both terrific movies but for some reason they made less than three million dollars in theatrical form (combined).

The show is a science fiction thriller, with no special effects, intertwined with a hight school and family drama . It has an odd pace and an odd unraveling,

it treats the audience with respect for their intelligence and it touches on some of the big questions. It’s well done and it keeps it's interest for the duration of all the episodes.

That’s pretty much how I would described it.

Also I personally appreciate the dance between scepticism and extraordinary reality, between hero and villain. Something that can also be found in their earlier work.

In short

I would say it’s a very good series but I would be very selective to whom I would recommend it to.

But apparently it has been very well received.

Let me know what you think about the show in general and the ending in specific.

Spoilers

Do you think she was lying? Or what’s happening? I’ve seen some people saying it needs a season 2 to explain it… I don’t think that’s the case at all. Everything is there. But why was the “bully” back at the school? Why was the FBI guy in her house at night?

End Spoilers

I will recommend their movie “Sound of my voice” also as a bonus. If you liked the show you should give it a watch.

One thing I’m very glad is that the show will have much more exposition by the simple fact that it’s on Netflix.

And these storytellers, do deserve a bigger audience.

I will write on both their films and Mike Cahill’s.

But for now, I will only mention this one. Here is the trailer:

Upvote and Follow for all your film needs.
(Let me know if you want a finale explanation with facts and theories)