At the risk of being canceled, I want to say that every time we get a new European thriller, on Netflix specifically, I’m always skeptical because they’re often like a straight man with no personality, generic and sex crazy. Jokes aside, though, the thriller market is filled with hits and misses because it’s honestly too hard to get right. So we do reward the stuff that seems to do okay, even if it’s not perfect. So I will be telling you about the good and bad aspects of this show so you can decide if it’s worth your time or not. Under A Dark Sun tells the story of Alba, a young woman who finds herself at a flower estate looking for a job, only for a massive incident to occur soon after, leaving her to revisit her past and worry about her son’s future. The 6-episode series is so fast-paced that if you blink, you might miss a twist, yet it doesn’t feel like a lot’s happened throughout. What I mean by this is that the plot is so wobbly that, at the end of the day, the whole thing just feels a little bit (or a lot) futile.
Under A Dark Sun sets itself up for failure when it starts off with one plotline and then completely abandons it for something entirely different. This doesn’t just happen once, though. Throughout the series, anytime a plotline gets too intense, we’re meant to skim over it and move on to something else so we can forget the flaws and believe anything that may or may not connect the dots. The characters are archetypal, but the thing that confused me the most about the show isn’t the many unnecessarily convoluted twists; no, it’s whether there are parts in the show that are meant to be comical for real or simply end up that way by accident or through being lost in translation. Maybe I don’t understand French humor, is what I was thinking.
The best part about Under A Dark Sun is that it’s 6 episodes, ranging anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes, and so fast-paced that your brain might not get enough time to process all the tiny (unnecessary) subplots. The character motivations aren’t entirely fleshed out, and some characters are just there to show up when the protagonist isn’t making the cut. This is a mild spoiler, so you can skip to the next paragraph if you’d like to avoid it. The one thing that really irked me about the show is the subplot around a character named Valentin. It’s an unnecessary twist that completely shifts the story for a little bit before coming right back. It doesn’t serve any real purpose to the show except for making it infuriating.
Alba is an interesting character in that she’s both brooding and cheerful. She’s like an action heroine when needed, though we don’t know why she’s capable of that. I do think she looks older than she’s meant to be, which makes her clothes look a bit weird, but moving on. Mathieu is an addict and the good-for-nothing elder son, whereas Lucie is the younger sister who wants to radicalize the family and move to a different country to feel fulfilled. Alba’s son Leo and she share a sweet relationship, but that’s also cut short, especially because he’s very eager to learn about his dad and throws a tantrum every time he brings up the subject.
The 6 episodes zoom by, it’s true, but is that really a plus point? I think it is. It certainly makes the show interesting at every turn, even if, at the end of the day, the ending doesn’t necessarily live up to the hype. This is where it’s up to you as a viewer to decide what you’re in for, the journey or the destination. In this case, the journey is pretty fun, especially in the latter half of the show, where the twists start unwinding. But, if you’re the kind of person who wants a larger-than-life ending, and even if the journey is slightly exhausting, you’re happy if at the end you get to see the most beautiful sunset, then I’m telling you right now to skip this show, because I promise you, you’re not going to enjoy that ending.
I briefly mentioned character motivations earlier, but I think in pursuit of making a show that’s massively twisted, the writers definitely lost the plot a little bit. Visually, the show is average, just like other European thriller shows, a little bit oversaturated. There are some pretty cool shots, one involving a coffin, but it’s not anything new. The one thing I have to admit is that despite its flaws, the show is quite an original take on the family drama. I also think the title is quite appropriate, because if I wrote this show, it’d be a rom-com set in Italy where everyone is happy making wine, not perfume. This show is a thriller, yes, but it’s also a maddening family drama.
At the end of the day, I can’t say it’s a terrible show, because there are definitely some things to enjoy about it. If you’re after the fast life, this might be a good pick for you, but if you want something to play out in the background, you’re going to miss out on a lot of details. The show is both lazy and highly charged in that it starts off with one thing and then completely forgets about it to jump into something new. If you’re a big fan of twists, this might be a fun show to try and predict what’s going on, because it’s likely you won’t be able to manage. While I did mention the ending was a bit meh, I do think it’s pretty straightforward, so most of your pressing questions are answered, but the show certainly leaves some things up in the air. So, for this convoluted mess, I’d give Under A Dark Sun 2.5 out of 5 stars.
