This review is spoiler free.
Ares (2020) is a Dutch drama television series, available to watch on Netflix. The show has been dubbed to English, for easy watching.
The story follows Rosa, an Amsterdam student, as she is invited into a secret society. She is offered endless opportunities, but this position comes along with great sacrifices. How much will she sacrifice to secure her path to the top?
I was pleased to discover that the eight-episode series contained roughly 30-minute episodes, in comparison to the usual 45. There is something about shorter episodes that are so satisfying, they feel like less of a commitment somehow. However, despite the short episodes, I feel they aren't as concise and exciting as they could be. They didn't cram the episodes with narrative, action, or plot reveals. It did feel slow, a little confusing and disappointing due to the lack of information given to us.
There were a lot of bizarre things happening that I simply couldn't explain. I expected some kind of explanation, I expected the puzzle to fit together perfectly at some point and for it all to make sense. I hoped to be impressed by the narrative, as the show looked cinematically polished. But, I'm still missing pieces of the puzzle. I just don't have a clear finished understanding. They didn't tease us with bits and pieces throughout, and I feel I didn't even get clarity at the end. I'm obviously very confused.
There are interesting discussions within the programme. The people in the society are constantly bending their morals and sacrificing so much in order to achieve their personal goals. They're making choices to achieve power, but they don't know what the 'power' is. They are never specifically told what you achieve from making these sacrifices - they seem to just go ahead with it in hopes they will succeed. There is the discussion of wealth, as all of the families within the society are rich, yet Rosa is from a poor family. She appears to have more determination than the others, because she isn't given the same opportunities due to her family being of a lower class.
The programme is massively based around guilt. I only slightly understood this and then looked into it more after watching, which I don't enjoy having to do. I feel if they made a clear, coherent narrative a larger audience would be able to enjoy the programme and feel some understanding and relief of clarity.
I really hoped this programme would be one to get excited about, but I honestly wasn't engaged. I didn't feel an attachment to any of the characters, I didn't really know them. Even though there were enigmas, I wasn't invested in them. I wasn't eagerly continuing in desperation to know more, which is unfortunate.
I liked the general narrative behind this programme, and perhaps this will be an interesting watch for someone who enjoys more cryptic and metaphorical programmes. However, I usually find myself intrigued by these types of programmes but this just didn't satisfy me. I would love to hear other people's opinions because my mind is scrambled after watching this one.
P.S I just looked around at reviews and some people love it and some people hate it. It's the maddest mix of reviews. If you want to share your opinion, please watch for yourself and be sure to let me know what you think!
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