Once again Netflix has found oil with a Spanish series. This time it is no longer the umpteenth urban thriller, but now it has been the turn of the dystopia ‘Welcome to Eden’, which endorses the condition of a successful phenomenon that the first season already had with a new installment that is among the most watched. Although in these cases there is always the question of how much of a true phenomenon there is and how much of convenience as it is a prominent premiere.
It is normal to have doubts about it, seeing how it is not the most stimulating example of how to create drama on a lost island by the hand of God. Quite the contrary to the case of the three examples that we are going to highlight and recommend now, all available on a streaming platform, where the action on the island does have interest and drama.
‘Lost’ (‘Lost’, 2004-2010)
Created by: JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Jeffrey Lieber. Distribution: Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Terry O’Quinn, Josh Holloway, Naveen Andrews.
The mother of all series of moves on an island. If I don’t put her on a list with this theme, I bust, even though she is the series that everyone was watching in that first decade of the century. Far from what it may seem, a revised one feels great, even if some problems from its last seasons are still present.
The key is that ‘Lost’ was always about first-class television, which hooked us based on mysteries to theorize about but hooked us to a series of fascinating characters with a lot behind them, on and off the island. One of the fundamental series of this century and probably the last great phenomenon of free-to-air television.
Watch on Disney+ | Criticism in Espinof
‘The White Lotus’ (2020-Present)
Created by: Mike White. Distribution: Jennifer Coolidge, Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Abrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli.
You may say that it is strange to talk about vacation resorts on islands as a strange place from which you want to escape, but try to work there. No supernatural things happen, but yes Mother’s dramas can go in this scathing reflection of late capitalism carried out by Mike White and has become quite a sensation (and this one is true).
In two seasons he combines the study of miserable characters of all kinds, comedy spun with perversion and intrigue around a possible disaster that will occur at the end. Whether on a tropical island or on the Italian island of Sicily, and with a cast that changes with each season, the series is always fresh as a cocktail in the way it builds tension with overtones of class and sexual politics.
Watch on HBO Max | Criticism in Espinof
‘Midnight Mass’ (‘Midnight Mass’, 2021)
Created by: Mike Flanagan. Distribution: Hamish Linklater, Kate Siegel, Zach Gilford, Annabeth Gish, Michael Trucco.
A small, devout island fishing community suddenly finds its normalcy upended by the arrival of a new preacher for the church. His magnetic presence goes hand in hand with a series of terrifying phenomena that are difficult to explain, giving Mike Flanagan the perfect environment to make his best series.
A totally amazing work, although very much for coffee lovers due to his tendency to emphasize drama as much as possible and his much-criticized use of monologues. But at the same time it has all the spirit of a Stephen King novel without (directly) adapting any of it, it has a brilliantly constructed atmosphere, a superb cast and offers one of the most exquisite series ever developed by Netflix.
Watch on Netflix | Criticism in Espinof
In Espinof | 16 Movies That Prove Going On Vacation Isn’t Always A Good Idea