Tag: miniseries

“Good People” – TV Miniseries Review

A scene from the French/Belgian TV miniseries “Good People.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

“Good People” (“Des Gens Bien”) is a French/Belgian miniseries that plays out as a droll dramedy arising from a scam. The title denotes the fact that good people can do uncharacteristically bad things with what seem like good intentions. They can also rope in other good people who mean well.

We start with watching Tom (Lucas Meister) stage an auto accident in which he barely survives, though his wife, Linda (Berangere McNeese), is burned to death. We soon learn why he did it – extreme financial hardship. Then about halfway through the six episodes, we learn how. The motive is to cash in on a big life insurance policy but events, as they must, soon spin out of control.

One cop, Philippe (Michael Abiteboul), smells a rat, suspecting the accident wasn’t what it seemed. But his boss, Roger (veteran character actor Dominique Pinon), who knows Tom very well, refuses to let him investigate. Roger had lost his wife in a similar crash around that same stretch of roadway, and is completely closed to any other explanation. There’s also an obstacle of cross-border jurisdiction limiting Philippe’s efforts.

Linda and Tom owned a tanning parlor that was failing. They were on the verge of losing that, plus their home and cars, having exhausted the limits of their credit. The members of a local church kicked in a lot of money its members could little afford to help them stay afloat by updating the equipment but it wasn’t going to be enough. Thus was the plot hatched… with the best of intentions.

Among the things that go wrong, Philippe won’t give up his probing. Linda’s cousin Serge (Peter Van den Begin), a hulking thug recently paroled from prison, tumbles onto the plan and forces his way in for the payoff. Tom’s highly devout sister (Gwen Berrou), who’d convinced the churchgoers to help him and Linda, sees something she shouldn’t, and a high-profile person accidentally involved in the intrigue brings far more attention to the case than anyone could have expected.

The tenor set by the series’ trio of writers can best be described as a darkly comic, slowly unfolding farce. The cast is excellent all around, especially shining as the plan unravels and actions become more desperate. The plot includes a few surprises in what happens to whom. Van den Begin really dominates in his scenes presenting Serge’s stupidity and conscience-free brutality. Pinon, who has been such an asset as a regular in the recently-reviewed cop series “Cassandre, gets too little screen time in this one. There’s also a brief role for Corinne Masiero, who headlined one of my favorite light crime series from ANY country, “Captain Marleau.”

My frequent complaint about series that run longer than needed is mercifully NOT applicable to this one. The half-dozen 50-minute episodes befit the material. The series ends without major cliffhangers but does leave a few open questions. One source indicates they meant it to run three seasons, which may not occur, since this one aired in 2022. I’d welcome more if that happens, but am quite satisfied with where they ended this production.

“Good People” (originally “Des Gens Bien”), in French with English subtitles, begins streaming MHz Choice on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025.

A scene from the French/Belgian TV miniseries “Good People.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

“Trompoppie” – TV Series Review

A scene from the South African TV crime comedy series “Trompoppie.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

The title of the darkly comic murder-fest “Trompoppie” is Afrikaans for drum majorette. We first meet aspiring South African gymnast Luna (Melissa Myburgh), whose mom died leaving her with a drunk, depressed and broke dad. Poppa wants the best for her – a top-notch gym academy in Russia – but they can’t even cover their daily overhead. During a workout, she’s seen by a wealthy local celeb, Jill (Marion Holm), who decides to pay for Luna to attend the city’s posh high school and live with her family, in exchange for adapting her skills for the majorette squad her daughter Zanne (Celeste Loots) is due to captain. There’s a big competition that means the world to Jill and the school, and Luna seems to offer the pizzazz element needed to boost them from also-rans to champs. That contest seems far more important to them than it should.

The privileged jock milieu isn’t what Luna aspires to, but she agrees because it’s the only known path to her own goal. Luna is warmly embraced by Zanne, but immediately and callously spurned by the rest of the squad – especially Mindy ((Elzet Nel) – the current captain and leader of the pack. Mindy is straight out of a MEAN GIRLS clone, complete with intimidated minions in the roost she rules, and contempt for the new girl from the poor side of town. Luna perseveres, with Jill’s staunch backing. She’s a strident Karen among Tiger Moms, and throws her weight around liberally and loudly. She also looks uncomfortably like Eddie Izzard in his drag mode. As a veteran soap opera star, Jill can impose her will more forcefully than most, and without reservation or remorse.

For ten 50-minute episodes, we follow a tragic accident, a desperate cover-up and a string of consequential murders, with suspense about who is doing the rest of the killing. Suspects ebb and flow among members of the squad, their handsome coach (Armand Aucamp), Jill’s surly other adopted daughter, Elke (Luca Human), Zanne’s short-fused beau Tomas (Cantona James), and others. We root for Luna because she’s as pleasantly earnest and sympathetic as Lindsay Lohan’s character from MEAN GIRLS. She’d advocated for doing the right thing after the initial incident, but was outvoted and out-muscled by Mindy and the rest of the squad, ala HEATHERS.

Etienne Fourie apparently wrote and directed the entire miniseries. His effort contains considerable merit, including some effective misdirects and twists.  The script’s wry, morbid humor blends nicely with the suspense. The media frenzy and fickle reactions of the public add a fine social satire element. Jill’s high profile and central involvement make the ongoing situation a big attention-grabber, as we see from inter-cut scenes of random folks’ responses to the swinging pendulum of the unfolding story. Performances are fine across the board from a large cast of featured players. On the downside, this would have been much better if compressed to seven or eight episodes. A lot of fat could have been excised without losing any of the meat. The acts of violence and their results occur mostly off-camera. For those expecting a bunch of titillating scenes of young lasses in skimpy outfits, locker rooms and shower scenes, cool your libidos. There ain’t many such cheap thrills to be found.

There’s a lot to like, including some laugh-out-loud moments and a satisfying ending. Perhaps others will have more patience than I for the length of the winding path to reach it.

“Trompoppie,” mostly in Afrikaans with English subtitles, starts streaming on MHz Choice on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

“Lake Trilogy” TV Series Review

Sebastian Cavazza as veteran policeman Taras Birsa, in “The Lake,” the first mini series in the “Lake Trilogy.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

In the past several years, I’ve reviewed a bunch of TV series – mostly crime dramas – from many European countries. Here’s my first from Slovenia. “The Lake Trilogy” is a collection of three miniseries (“The Lake”, “Leninov Park” and “Valley of Flowers”) following veteran police detective Taras Birsa (Sebastian Cavazza) and his team through an array of homicides and major crimes in their city

The first is six 50-minute episodes; the others are only three. Each set features a new case (or set of cases) with mostly the same cast on the law-and-order side.

The package reminds me of our Harry Bosch series. Both are led by gray-haired, street-savvy cops, usually in a dour mood. Both have grown daughters and romantic complications in their lives. Both have contacts outside the department who help our heroes because of respect earned earlier in their careers. Both also start as cops before winding up as private eyes, due to frustrations with “the system” and unreasonably intrusive bosses hampering their efforts. One major difference is that Birsa relies on his squad more than Bosch, providing a broader protagonist base, and lightening the mood a bit.

As ”The Lake” opens, Tina (Nika Rozman) is imposed on the existing unit of Taras, Brajc (Gregor Cusin) and Osteric (Matej Puc). She’s got computer skills but little field experience, which makes Taras skeptical about her value. As the title suggests, a young woman’s body is found at the lake shore, nude, decapitated and unidentifiable. It takes several episodes just to ID the body, during which other killings occur and several possibilities evolve of connections and motives among them. Passion or profit? One perp or more?

“Leninov Park” picks them up several months later, switching the scenery from snowy winter to sunny summer. A bag lady is shot in the head in a park near the police station, raising questions of whether it’s due to a personal conflict or a hate crime, and embarrassing the department, either way. Neo-Nazis maybe in the mix.

The third, “Valley of Flowers”, involves the triple homicide of an old rich guy, his hot young wife and her lover, just as Taras is starting his new career as a private detective. That unfortunately lands him in the suspect pool.

Locations in and around the capital city of Ljubljana make fine use of the mountains and environs in this northwest section of the former Yugoslavia. All the scripts are well written, keeping the suspense alive until the end. The pace is somewhat slower in the first set than in the latter years. None are long on shootouts or fights, as the stories mostly unfold on mood, logic and character development.

The personal stories of the principals are intertwined well with the crime plots, steering clear of soap opera overload. No annoying cliffhangers, but not all end with tidy wrap-ups of the subplots. You don’t need to binge, but watch the sets in order for ongoing plot threads and recurring characters to make the most sense. Some questions remain that tease a tetra-logy extending the trilogy. The last aired in 2022, so hope remains for another round.

“Lake Trilogy,” in Slovenian with English subtitles, is available streaming on MHzChoice starting Tuesday, Oct 22.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

“Nona And Her Daughters” – TV review

Miou Miou as Nona, in the French TV miniseries “Nona And Her Daughters.” Photo credit: Manuel Moutier. Courtesy of MHz Choice

“Nona And Her Daughters” (“Nona Et Ses Filles”) is a character-driven dramedy miniseries from French TV that successfully spans a few genres. Nona (Miou-Miou), after a lifetime devoted to advocacy for women’s rights, shockingly finds herself pregnant at 70. Even worse, the only man she’s been with is proven NOT to be the father by a DNA test. Nona has been fiercely independent, heading their city’s equivalent of Planned Parenthood after raising triplet daughters Emmanuelle (Virginie Ledoyen), Gabrielle (Clotilde Hesme), and George (Valerie Donzelli) on her own, without ever being at all sure who sired them. Or caring, for that matter. The trio (with their unisex, per mom’s principles, names) is about to turn 44, and even more surprised than Nona by this seeming impossibility.

The diverse set of women rally together around this event. The daughters move back to mom’s apartment to provide support. That’s really needed, since Nona is ordered to stay home and minimize all stress for the duration. They strive to keep her little passenger a secret, rather than face the media frenzy this news would inevitably generate. Emmanuelle, a mother of five, fills in for Nona at the clinic, fabricating an excuse for her mom’s absence. Gabrielle, a sex therapist, starts coming unglued for various reasons, most of which seem at odds with her professional training. George, a perpetual student who keeps changing majors and thesis topics about as often as her underwear, contributes as best she can.

Although her character is an underachiever, Donzelli actually does triple duty for this series. She‘s one of the series’ creators and writers, a co-leading actress, and also the narrator giving voice to her journal entries about the course of events we’re seeing. I didn’t check the credits to see if she also handled craft services on the set.

The series builds in the style of classic farce. Complications pile on from various sources. The circle of secrecy keeps broadening as more people are needed to assist the foursome. Leaks force the inclusion of less-welcome attention from others. Comings and goings based on partial or incorrect information accelerate until the lid inevitably blows off. The tone of the unfolding events and story arcs is admirably maintained as lively, while remaining well shy of zany. Slapstick is not part of the deal, though there is a considerable amount of movement – physical and otherwise. The nine half-hour scripts serve up healthy doses of social satire and sentiment, even dangling a bit of mysticism within the overall comedic package.

Performances from the quartet are exceptional across-the-board. They flesh out distinctive personalities, and all shine in their moments of opportunity. The daughters are played by actresses within three years of their characters’ age, bearing just enough resemblance to each other for credibility as non-identical womb-mates (I had to look that up to confirm it’s really a word. No extra charge for the service). The men mostly fill needed roles for the story, though a few are given interesting minor arcs of their own. Though obviously written for an audience primarily of women in the age range of these characters, its appeal turns out to be more inclusive of other demographics. Present company included.

On the downside, the authors seemingly wrote themselves into a corner, falling a bit short of an ending befitting all they’d crafted in leading to its apex. For me, the series peaked in Episode 7 with one truly superb scene. The last two were a relative letdown, though not enough to negate the high quality of writing and acting preceding them that made a one-day binge feel like time well spent.

“Nona And Her Daughters” (“Nona Et Ses Filles”), mostly in French with English subtitles, streams on MHz Choice starting on May 2.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

Clothilde Hesme as Gaby, Valerie Donzelli as George and Virginie Ledoyen as Manu, in the French TV miniseries “Nona And Her Daughters.” Photo credit: Manuel Moutier. Courtesy of MHz Choice

“Petra” – TV Series Review

Paola Cortellesi as Petra, in the Italian crime drama “Petra.” Courtesy of MHzChoice

The title of “Petra” refers to the name of the lead character in this Italian procedural TV series, Petra Delicado (Paola Cortellesi). She’s a lawyer who became a cop, though more of a desk jockey than a case-working detective. When circumstances in her Genoa department thrust her into the field for a series of ritualized rapes, she rises to the challenge, despite having almost no discernible personality, as further evidenced by her drab gray apartment with stacks of unpacked boxes to match. Even so, tough and smart is a good place to start. She’s paired with an older, street-wise subordinate, Antonio (Andrea Pennachi), who is as reactive to the emotional elements of their work as she is averse.

In the first two of the eight episodes comprising this miniseries made available for review, the pair deal with crimes and a raft of personal issues, including romantic prospects for both – not with each other. The 90-minute stories are well-written, with more stimulation for the intellect than the gut, as moments of cop-on-perp action are sparse and brief. But the direction includes lovely shots of the city and area, including some aerial views in several transition scenes that are more artistic than usual for TV productions. Same for the cool, tone-setting animations before the opening titles.

It’s hard to project how the other six episodes will turn out from this limited sample but so far, the stories are solid and the characters are becoming more interesting, individually and as a team, as they progress. Petra’s name is oddly – and likely not by coincidence – oxymoronic, since it loosely means something like “fragile rock.” That encompasses her flat affect which suggests the high-functioning end of the Autism spectrum, with an underlying vulnerability that is likely to continue thawing as we learn more of the backstories for her and Antonio. Both leads do well in establishing flawed, human-scale protagonists we can root for.

“Petra,” mostly in Italian with English subtitles, streams all eight episodes on MHzChoice starting Nov. 8.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

“Algiers Confidential” TV Miniseries – Review

Hanna Amar and Ken Duken in the German TV miniseries “Algiers Confidential” on MHz Choice. Courtesy of MHz Choice.

When you’re ready to binge an intricate geopolitical thriller, this four-episode miniseries from German TV miniseries, “Algiers Confidential” (Ein Paar Tage Licht), just might be your ticket. As the title portends, most of the action occurs in Algeria, as a slew of competing factions and parties variably cooperate and compete in the aftermath of a German arms dealer’s kidnapping. No one is quite sure who is responsible, or what their agenda may be, but it triggers this mad scramble covering parts of two continents before the dust settles.

Our protagonist is a German intelligence agent (Ken Duken), assigned to the embassy in Algiers. Besides the covert aspects of his job, he’s engaged in a secret affair with a highly-placed magistrate (Hania Amar). When the kidnapping occurs, both are thrust into the center of the intrigue and rescue efforts, which requires navigating though an ever-shifting web of allies, obstructors, and some who may be both. Nothing is as it seems, or at least doesn’t remain so for long. Trust is an elusive, if not ephemeral, commodity for all.

Plot details would take forever to summarize, due to the wide array of characters and the ways their interests variably coincide and clash. Production values are comparable to those of major theatrical films. Sets in both North Africa and Europe are first-rate, including the depictions of local residents and lifestyles, wealthy and poor, providing rich texture in many diverse exterior locations. The action sequences play out in realistic in scale, free of over-sized heroics. The morass of personal ambitions and national interests is presented in a tight script with taut direction, making its four-hour running time seem much shorter. The political maneuvering seems illustrative of comparable issues and events in today’s world, with particular insights into the lingering aftereffects of the region’s colonial era.

The size of the cast and the number of twists will be easier to keep straight in a binge than it must have been for its original TV audience, getting only one episode at a time. For me, the series provided an intense and satisfying day of viewing.

“Algiers Confidential,” in German, French and other languages with English subtitles, is available streaming on MHz Choice starting Feb. 22.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

SEKTA – TV Series Review

Marta Kessler as Kira and Svetlana Khodchenkova as Lilya in “Sekta.” Courtesy of MHZChoice.com

Good news, of a sort. The US is apparently not the only country having problems with cults. The Russian TV miniseries “Sekta” (“The Sect”) dramatizes the emotional and physical brutality of what cults can do to the gullible, and how hard it can be for others to rescue and de-program the victims. Powerful, if unpleasant, to witness, yet seemingly insightful and realistic about short and long-term effects on all touched by such situations.

The protagonist is a nurse, Lilya (Svetlana Khodchenkova), who helps a trio of parent-hired freelancers after they’ve managed to retrieve an unwilling Nika (Anastasiya Chistyakova) from her large, violent cult. The leader is a charismatic guy who claims the usual sort of insight beyond this lifetime, and a path to eternal bliss. They have no problem using any means to retake Nika, who supposedly is the key to their ritual ascension. They are also extremely well-funded, with clout in high places to keep the cops away. The proceedings are further complicated by Lily’s baggage from her previous trauma in another cult, and raising a young daughter, Kira (Marta Kessler), who may have some powers of her own. Lilya’s problems from that ordeal may not be completely behind her in several respects.

The early going is rather confusing, with numerous flashbacks delaying our understanding of what’s going on now, and what it all means. But patience will be rewarded, as the past and current story lines converge into an action-packed chain of events. Nika has been thoroughly brainwashed, and staunchly resists the process of returning to what we call a normal life. The “cure” often seems almost as bad as the indoctrination had been.

The sets are excellent for their bleakness that suits the subject matter. First-rate performances from the three women and Filipp Yankovski, as Berk the creepy, mesmerizing leader of Nika’s cult. He resembles a young Royal Dano, for those who recall that great character actor of yore. Gaunt and driven, one sees how his special brand of narcissistic psychopathy could reel in those who feel lost and adrift in their communities. Leaders of religious and political cults generally seem so certain of whatever they’re spewing, that the “Kool-Aid” seems plausible, and better than any other options they perceive.

Watching this is not a relaxing binge. But if you’re in the mood for something serious, with the bonus of the rare opportunity to see what Russians are viewing, it’s a good bet. “Sekta,” in Russian with English subtitles, is streaming now on MHZChoice.com

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars