Tribes Of Europe Review (2021, Netflix)
"Tribes of Europe" is a post-apocalyptic drama from the creators of "Dark", which in fact looks like a six-hour teaser (!) of a potential second season - and it's excruciating (although the series itself is not bad at all).
According to the plot, in the near future, all technologies suddenly failed, states collapsed and hundreds of tribes were formed on the wreckage of Germany and neighboring countries, living in their own way. Once a strange plane crashes above the ground of one of them and the wounded pilot asks the boy who saved him to take care of a mysterious cube more precious than life, which must be delivered to a special place in order to prevent trouble for the entire continent. But a tribe of wild slave-killers learns about the artifact and arranges a hunt, so the main character, his brother and sister will have to split up - and the path of each of the three will be different, difficult and full of dangers. But if you expect at least some answers from six episodes (what happened to the world fifty years ago? What is in this cube, who created it and for what purpose? What threat comes from the east?), Then you better watch the trailer and forget about the series before a sequel is announced - if announced at all.
It seems to me that writing such scripts is kind of a fraud.
Despite the fact that the story itself is dramatic, unfolds (in half of the cases) unpredictably, the heroes go their way and change towards the end of the arcs. But the main intrigue, the answer to which was never given, although this is clearly very important both for the heroes and for the world in which they live - sorry, this is a bad technique. The story can tease with a hint of continuation and some uncertainty, but not so much.
Well, then, from the authors of "Dark" you expect something deeper than the cruel adventures of three teenagers in the wild world, where the Middle Ages mixed with the present, and history has not taught anything. Some part of philosophy, reasoning about the nature of things, was not enough - again, after "Dark", which explores the predetermination of fate and the connectedness of the past, present and future. There are interesting thoughts here (and often performed by the most illogical character, Lord Barbara), as well as an explicit commentary on what is happening now, for example, reflections on the essence of old Europe, the desire for freedom and peace, which no one needs now ( according to the creators, they came up with the story, inspired by the exit of the UK from the European Union). But otherwise …
Is it worth watching?
I don't know, the story is cut short in mid-sentence, there are almost no answers, so you're free to speculate... if you'll feel like you want to.
If you like films like "Planet of the Apes" or games like "The Last Of Us", you are interested in a picture of the decline of society with almost no technology and a timid note of hope somewhere out there, under the thickness of the lake water, and you are ready for the continuation of the story at best in a year - then yes, you might like it. This is a well-made mini-series, with good actors, ominous electronic music, a kind of camera work with shooting a wide-angle camera with hands almost always and an unusual mixture of German and English in the characters' speech (no dubbing - and rightly so; if the story goes at the same pace, then by the third or fourth season it will be possible to learn a little German too - you will definitely remember one word).