There’s nary a wink to camera nor a funny line to be had across the whole eight hours. The problem with Bodies is that it is anti-fun: it takes itself as seriously as a judge in a wig. Indeed, it’s often the not-stopping to think that’s a large part of the fun. The fact that Bodies is “out there” needn’t be a bad thing, either – most fantasy from the Lord of the Rings onwards is hokum if you stop to think about it. It is The Nevers meets Ripper Street meets Blade Runner meets Line of Duty, where that word “meets” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.Īnd it’s frustrating, because the present-day investigation, with The Responder’s Amaka Okafor top-notch as a frontline detective, is intriguing in itself and would stand perfectly well on its own. And all the time, everyone involved – actors, reviewers, background artists – has to try and keep a straight face.īodies, you’ll have gathered, is futuristic, cabbalistic, whippety woo-woo, time-and-genre scrambling nonsense. Suffice to say that to solve the mystery, our four detectives must somehow be brought together in order to uncover a conspiracy so big it would take the combined brainpower of David Icke, Matt Le Tissier and that guy down the pub blaming the mainstream media for our failed electric-car infrastructure to comprehend it. ![]() Almost everything that happens is expected to be unexpected, which gives you some idea of the mangled plot Meccano we’re dealing with here. For Bodies, this list of twists was nearly a page long. It’s fair dinkum – whether you liked it or not, spoiling the show for someone else is just annoying. Sometimes, when reviewers are given early access to a new series, the broadcaster sends an accompanying letter asking them not to reveal certain plot details. (And while we’re at it, why do people in the Bodies 2053 future all have terrible haircuts? Is Big Barber watching you?) Over eight episodes we hop, skip and jump between all four of them, a quadratic BOGOF that requires one of those police investigation walls covered in red string and maps and newspaper clippings to even begin to understand.Įchoes, clues and faces start to cross the decades, the detectives soon discover their investigations are linked, and an enigmatic demagogue named Elias Mannix ( Stephen Graham) emerges (appearing to be some kind of techno-apocalyptic, time-travelling kingpin, like The Terminator’s John Connor crossed with Back to the Future’s Marty McFly.)ĭid he have a part to play in the murder(s) of our John Doe? Or is there something more sinister at play? And what sort of a stupid question is that – of course something more sinister is at play. When a body – the same body, with weird markings and a bullet hole where his eye should be – is found in the same East End street in 1890, 1941, 20 a detective from each period is put on the case. The film radiates a sense of joy that can't help but be infectious.Mind-bending stories are all well and good but how much do you really want your mind bent? Bodies, a new Netflix series based on a graphic novel by Si Spencer, treats said mind like a cat treats a ball of string. Director Fernando Meirelles, known for dramas like City of God and The Constant Gardener, brings the material to life with energetic camera work and an unorthodox soundtrack. ![]() The former is both dour and mischievous, all twinkling eyes and sharp jokes, while Pryce is the reverse: light-hearted on the surface but with hidden depth. ![]() Hopkins and Pryce bring out the best in each other. They discuss all the big topics: the Church's place in the 21st century, how best to serve God, and even Swedish pop sensations ABBA. The film is a two-hander (a play or film featuring only or primarily two main characters) revolving around the conversations between Benedict and Bergoglio. After the leak of documents revealing corruption by the Church, Pope Benedict summons Bergoglio to the Vatican to convince him not to resign in protest. The Two Popes dramatizes a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI (played by Anthony Hopkins) and cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (played by Jonathan Pryce), more well-known now as Pope Francis.
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