Gripping Revelations

Directed by Baran bo Odar and written by Jantje Friese with co-writers, ‘Dark’ is a complicated puzzle that the viewers are meant to solve. From missing children and time travel, temporal loops and preventing apocalypse to revealing a secret society and travelling further back into the past, everything is connected. And just when one finds the centre of the labyrinth, the writers lead you to a whole new deeper level, also giving you clues to figure out the plot. As Adam (Dietrich Hollinderbäumer) always says, ‘What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.’

The central character of ‘Dark’ is Jonas Kahnwald (Louis Hofmann), a yellow-jacket teenager traumatized by his father’s suicide. He plays a key role in the overall course of events. Hofman’s performance continues to be top-tier, especially from a young actor. Every stare he gives has the weight of the hundreds of lifetimes he’s now lived.

Other than him, Martha Nielson (Lisa Vicari) steals the limelight with her killer performance as a teenage confused by the mysterious time travel phenomenon. Adam is the leader of Sic Mundus, a secret society of time travelers and, with his ally Noah (Mark Waschke), a sinister priest, he tries to end the circle of time. Adam’s only opponent is Claudia Tiedemann (Julika Jenkins), the woman who was in charge of the nuclear power plant in her youth and is now on a mission to change the course of history and prevent unusual happenings.

The best thing about the show is the casting. Kudos to casting director Simone Bär for bringing in characters that seem to be probably from a similar set of intertwined families. The teenagers’ characters, when arriving as adults, played by a completely different performer, looks like the same person. Hence, there is never a doubt as to who the character represents. They outshine because none of them was all so pure. They all had their share of lies and secrets.

With pleasing visuals of the creepy forest setting and the caves and excellent cinematography and flawless CGI, ‘Dark’ provides suspense and darkness to the storyline.

Spanning multiple centuries and various past and present versions of each character, ‘Dark’ demands attention. The twists and intertwined loops of events are so intricately placed in the storyline that every visual and dialogue is important. The constant gripping revelations are unexpected yet logical. At one point, one would witness four versions of the same person in the same room.

‘Dark’ is the perfect epitome of a well thought out show, meticulously crafted and executed. It revolutionizes time travel storytelling, challenging the audience to come to terms with a reality where histories are not cast in stone. Definitely one of the most smartly and consistently written shows of our time.