Invasion (2021-2025)

Apple TV+ is now an established value among all streaming services. Apple tv+ brings a lot of quality (For All Mankind, Ted Lasso, The Morning Show) and originality. With the occasional miss (Mr. Corman). But even the less successful series have substance, finesse and expressiveness (Severance). Together with HBO Max and NPO Plus my top 3 streamers.

With Invasion, Apple tv+ ventures into fantasy/sci-fi territory when aliens visit our planet. As if we don't have enough on our mind with all the crises. Invasion is a mix of well-known genre films and not exactly original themes such as linguistics and international cooperation (Arrival). We've known for a long time that ordinary people can be more frightening than alien monsters. We know the hold-your-breath-in tension from A Quiet Place.

Technically and visually Invasion is excellently made, although there could have been more horror elements and gore in it. It's decent in that respect. The alien brood, sparsely depicted, are long-legged wuppies. The sound they produce is aptly chosen. Invasion is character driven with lots of dialogue, at the expense of pace and tension. The acting is in order, as are the four different storylines. The zeitgeist is done justice with a completely natural lesbian relationship for one of the protagonists. The final shot is overwhelming, but we had to wait more than 500 minutes for that. In short, an Apple (not so) Original.

Translated from Dutch · View original

Largely a missed opportunity, this slow SF series about a rather volatile alien invasion. The gimmick to let the events take place in real time works properly, but the various storylines are all uninteresting and the series focuses too much on all kinds of peripheral matters. Too bad, because visually Invasion is of a high level, with beautiful camera work and impressive special effects. Things are unfortunately slowly going downhill, working towards a lackluster setup for a second season that probably won't come.

Translated from Dutch · View original