(Spoiler-free zone)
Alright, alright, alright… I’m probably late for this one (as I usually am, I wrote this a few weeks ago but didn’t finish), but I REALLY have to speak about Sense8 because it’s just WAY too good. I finished watching not so long ago, and I’ve been busy trying to catch up on plenty of things. BUT here it is:
A Netflix-original series, Sense8, is something like you’ve never seen before. As you see on the picture above, we have 8 characters living in 8 different cities of the world (San Francisco, Chicago, Mexico City, London, Nairobi, Berlin, Seoul and Mumbai). They travel to 9 places (include Iceland on the list!), and it’s an amazing experience to watch, it’s a hell of a ride indeed! The Wachowskis brothers (Matrix movies, V for Vendetta, Jupiter Ascending, Speed Racer, and others) bring a truly worth-watching series, where you’ll be holding on tight to the edge of your seat like 80% of the time (and that if I’m wrong).
You start off by meeting the characters in the first episodes, then you sink in through their lives as they help each other do tasks that life itself brings upon them. These 8 interesting characters are sensates, they can connect with each other through their minds, and gain control of each other’s body at any necessary (dangerous) moment, plus be in the moment with one of the other sensates while being at the other side of the world. I know it sounds weird and complicated, but believe me, it will make sense once you start watching. Apart from their life problems, they have to answer a few questions why, why me?, who’s the lady I keep dreaming of?, why us?, who is Whispers?, why is Whispers behind us?… And more. So there’s that for now. You’ll gain knowledge as you watch the series.
The Wachowskis take this to the next level, which is amazing and refreshing to watch. So, how do they make the show doable, when you have 9 cities planned to film in? You have shots from Gay Pride in San Francisco (where something key to the series happens), you also have some shots from the Ganesh Festival in India, real car stunts in San Francisco, a real car explosion in Berlin, a real plane landing (actors aboard the moving plane), and it all was done with little post-production, since the actors are doing their acting in real-time with well prepared choreography (you’ll understand this when you watch), most of the scenes are a 1-shot only scene, which is super impressive… And, hey! They even used drones to get amazing views (specially from Iceland, WOW) and they did it all in just 4 months!
All the characters are special, since the actors were actually casted (born and raised) in the character’s country of “origin”. The sense of culture in each character is rich, organic and true to its roots, there are no impostors (as in if the character is Mexican, the actor has to be Mexican too). All these different cultures collide beautifully, to bring you inside their world and help you understand more about them. It’s truly inspiring to see this work, because imagine recording the same scene 9 different times in 9 different cities in the world? Ok, maybe not 9, but I do know of the one scene that has more cities involved, and it has 4! How did they make it possible? Could’ve been complicated, but they made it work and it is a beautiful piece of art.
WATCH TRAILER HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKpKAlbJ7BQ
So yes, this is a must-watch for me, because the work in it is so neat, very well done, it’s like layers on top of layers perfectly put together. A story that catches your attention, characters that hold on tight to your hand and won’t let go until you finish watching (the last scene brought a huge smile to my face).
Thrill, adventure, action, bullets, movies, dancing, cultures, hobbies, people… Just another story. I would give this a 10/10, really, but I’m going to go with a 9/10. I can’t wait to watch season 2, which will air somewhere between June and November (because no one is 100% sure about the actual release date). If you get to watch it, and finish it, please do let me know what you think because, after all, this is just my own personal opinion – which I do really hope you enjoy.
Thanks for reading!
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