Netflix's surprise new series The OA is more 'intrigue than execution'

NZ Herald

17 Dec, 2016 12:30 AM2 mins to read

Netflix has premiered a brand new and super mysterious show - and no one seems to know what it's about.

The OA hit the streaming service yesterday and focuses on Prairie Johnson, a blind woman who returns to her small town with her sight restored after going missing for seven years.

A scene from the new Netflix series, The OA.

Authorities want to know where she's been, but Johnson isn't telling them anything.

Neither, it seems, is Netflix. Although the show was comissioned in March last year, the move to premiere it yesterday came out of the blue.

The streaming service normally spends months advertising its shows before they premiere, and the surprise move has caught the TV world's attention - but is it worth watching?

Initial reviews have been mixed. The OA has 83% on RottenTomatoes after the first 12 reviews, suggesting a brand new hit, with Wired calling it a must watch for the holiday.

However, bigger papers have been less glowing. The Telegraph gave it three stars, calling it "undeniably watchable" but criticising it for being too vague. Variety called it "an especially cryptic attempt to say very little of consequence", with The Hollywood Reporter similarly noting that it is more about "intrigue than execution".

The series comes from Brit Marling, who stars as Johnson, and her writing collaborator Zal Batmanglij. The two have previously collaborated on the indie movies Sound of my Voice and The East.

Comparisons were quickly drawn between The OA and Stranger Things as it features a scene where Johnson is put into an isolation tank - though The Telegraph notes the two are very different in tone.

The trailer teases a lot of mystery, with dreamy sequences, car crashes, tattooed backs, people commiting suicide and lots of vague, intriguing quotes to hook you in.

"I didn't disappear. I was present for all of it," Johnson whispers, raising questions instantly as to what happened to her - and what exactly we can expect.