Today I opened my Netflix app and checked if something was new. There it was, Into the night. Looking at the title I checked the trailer. French spoken (Belgian series), well that’s great I can understand that. Then I checked what kind of category this series: suspense thriller. Ok let’s check what’s it about.
Without watching any trailer or having any expectation I notice quickly in the beginning that people in other timezones have died. Ok, the suspense starts. We’re following some people, where one seems to be aware of what is going on.
Warning: Minor spoilers ahead. I will try to avoid spoiling too much but I also want to let you know, should you watch it or not. So continue until the end 🙂
Another great movie I can recommend: La Casa de Papel – Money Heist
Into the night trailer
In the trailer, it says the sun kills people. The suspense is building, I mean how do you escape the sun? I thought immediately why not hide somewhere underground. Apparently the writers took that into account and it doesn’t work.
I also thought of this planet has dark spots for 6 months at a time. Even remote places in Alaska the sun would not shine for 4 months. I wonder why these places were never considered, knowing that the characters in the show had access to the internet and such they could have looked it up. But ok, social media was more important of course.
What about a faraday cage? this could also protect from the sun. Ok enough speculations.
Escaping the sun
As soon as characters escape from the sun and how they escape, I was reminded of Stephen King’s The Langoliers. The creatures that eat time. But now they’re escaping the sun, into the night.
Kind of similar don’t you think as well?
Into the night is not based on this, it’s based on a Polish Book: Starość aksolotla. In English The Old Axolotl. The author Jacek Dukaj. The plot of the book is totally different. It’s more of a cyberpunk genre where the conscience of humans are residing inside robots and mechs. (source: Wikipedia: The Old Axolotl)
Axolotl means:
“a Mexican salamander that in natural conditions retains its aquatic larval form throughout life but is able to breed.”
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/axolotl
Band of misfits
The group that ends up escaping the sun seems to be a bunch of misfits. Ex-military, criminal, social media influencer, some crew. Everybody had their own backstory filled in a manner of 6 episodes. What’s also fun, most people speak 2 languages in this series!
Don’t get too comfortable with one character. I mean it’s a show where billions perished because of the sun.
The difference in morals and ethics in each of the characters makes the group overcome more than just 1 problem at a time. It’s a suspense thriller so why not make them overcome more issues. Like any other series nowadays, the suspense thriller makes each episode end with a cliffhanger.
There is a lot of time pressure to escape the sun. As they manage to calculate on which latitude to fly at which speed ( if they know this and are flying on the northern hemisphere, there is a place where the sun doesn’t shine for several months ).
So should you watch it?
Still in quarantine? Why not. it’s only 6 episodes. It isn’t bad. There is something that the people could have thought of, but just put your mind at ease and enjoy the show.
It’s French-speaking, so consider it a breath of fresh air if you are used to something else. It’s a Belgian series.
I haven’t read the book myself, but I can imagine it strayed off a lot from the books. It didn’t feel like a cyberpunk, more like a 1995 Stephen King movie, which wasn’t bad to watch either.
Let me know what you think of the series. I did it in one sitting and enjoyed it as it was easy to watch and understand for a foreign movie.
