Dark | Its like Twin Peaks but with Time Travel

"Welcome to the Future" - Episode 10 "Alpha and Omega"

"Instead, this big fat secret is always with us at the table. It eats our toast, our butter and it devours our homemade marmalade. it keeps getting fatter while its despair fills up all the space in our home. Until you can't breath." - Franziska Doppler. Episode 4 "Double Lives"

Dark is a German SciFi Thriller Series co-created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese. It was produced by Wiederman and Berg and distributed on Netflix. It stars the acting talents of  Louis Hofmann(Jonas Kahnwald), Daan Lennard Liebrenz(Mikkel Nielsen), Ludger Bokelmann/Oliver Masucci(Ulrich Nielsen) among many others. For a full list of Cast and Crew.

The show begins with a man rhopsidizing about the arrow of time as we stare at a string map filled with photos of people taking at different points in their life. As we fade out of the cold open we follow the footsteps of Jonas, a teenager who is reeling from the fallout of his father's suicide, as he dons his yellow rain slicker and rides past the nuclear power plant while missing posters of Erik Obendorf flutter in the wind. Besides the increasing body count of  missing kids other strange things began happening: Animal Mutilations, A stranger who only talks about quantum physics, and anachronistic bodies showing up in the woods. These Events have happened before 33 years ago with the disappearance of Mads Nielsen and 33 Years before that. What is going on?

Dark has a Twin Peaks-esque style to its writing beginning with the mystery aspect but quickly diving into a complex drama. This Drama is multiplied thrice fold  as through time travel shenanigans we are introduced to the three timeframes that the story takes place over; 2019, with the disappearances of Erik Obendorf among others; 1986, where Ulrich's brother Mads has disappeared; 1953, where two dead bodies are found among the construction of the nuclear power plant. The scope of the show can be daunting at times but manages to be accessible as we become more accustomed to the various time periods and events. Being a time travel show I expected a fair amount of mind fucks and the show delivers with a plot that is thrilling without giving me a headache or an existential crisis. The show leaves off on an absolutely fantastic cliff hanger and provides a well created bedrock for the revelations of season two. On a side note, the show manages to display the time periods with a fantastic amount of accuracy, historically and culturally.

The amount of characters in the show can be sometimes overwhelming, (The first season alone has over 50 actors between the various timelines), but luckily through clever framing and the occasionally cheat sheet glance at the string wall allows us to connect to not only the different characters but the different time frames they reside in. I would like to give kudos to two actors, Oliver Masucci, (who plays "modern day" Ulrich Nielsen, a police detective obsessed with finding his missing son), and Louis Hofmann, (who plays Jonas Kahnwald, the protagonist). As mentioned before the show incorporates a large amount of actors who all give a fantastic performance. It terms of diversity Dark does not have much racial diversity, (which makes sense for a homogenized rural German town) but a decent amount of LGBT representation, (although rather covert)

Dark has an absolutely stunning visual direction and many clever framing devices, (such as side by side frames between the same character in different timeframes), that help keep the complex plot understandable. Nikolaus Summerer did a fantastic job with the cinematography and I'll be keeping my eye out for his work. On another note one of my favorite things about Dark was its use of mirrored visuals and reflections in both its promotional material and opening sequence, (which is definitely one of my new favorites), providing a surreal and macabre experience.

As opening songs go "goodbye" by Apparat is a great contender providing both a beautiful and unnerving liet motif that eases us into the show. On top of that. Dark has a fantastic soundtrack with a combination of 80s pop, Post-hardcore and Experimental, (someone actually complied a playlist along with the official soundtrack). Ben Frost does a excellent job with the scoring providing a dark creepy atmosphere that is intense without being overdramatic. 

Dark is what every time travel story should be: Complex and innovative. On top of the Science Fiction aspect it succeeds as a top rate drama with a great cast and the plot complexity that fans of Twin Peaks will enjoy. Dark has a fantastic amount of production with crisp visuals, an atmospheric scoring and great set design. The Creators have just started production on the third and final season of the show so if you have yet to see it I absolutely recommend it.