The signs are ominous: A ship that has been missing for four months suddenly emerges from the fog and drifts eerily across the Atlantic. Where has the Prometheus been? And where are its passengers?
The opening minutes of the new Netflix series “1899” by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar leave no doubt that the creators of “Dark” are again steering you into a disturbing other-world. Debuting on Netflix from Nov. 17, the chills this time do not lurk in dark forests but in deep waters and the winding corridors and levels of an immigrant ship.
Over eight episodes, the German production tells of events that took place during the voyage of the Kerberos from London to New York toward the end of the 19th century.
On board is a diverse group of passengers with different nationalities, personal histories and radically different social positions. It quickly becomes clear that all have troubled pasts or secrets and, for their own reasons, hope that the ship will lead them toward freedom.
But when the crew discovers the missing Prometheus on the open sea, the journey takes an unexpected turn. Under the command of Captain Eyk Larsen (Andreas Pietschmann), the Kerberos and its passengers and crew sail into a living horror instead of the New World.
Pietschmann, who already played a leading role in “Dark,” turns the helm of the Kerberos toward the ghost ship and, together with the passenger Maura Franklin (Emily Beecham), tries to make sense of the incomprehensible.
Haunted by their own painful past, the captain and Maura bond in a disquieting way. Both are racked by contradictions, both have the same haunted look in their eyes, which gives a glimpse of shocking secrets that soon erupt in realistic nightmares in “1899.”
With the mix of oppressive, shadowy images, throbbing sound and mysterious portents, Friese and Odar are treading familiar waters in their latest project. As in “Dark,” symbolism plays a major role here too. Objects and relics associated with the characters are introduced from the start, the shapes of which are sometimes reflected in carpet patterns, clothes or accessories.
As the different levels slowly bleed into one another, the individual fates of the passengers become increasingly intertwined. The strong international cast of actors from Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Hong Kong succeeds in convincingly portraying a seemingly random crowd of strangers – a formation that gradually makes sense. Are they all just parts of some grisly roulette?
In “1899,” Friese and Odar deftly play with fears and hunches, hopes and dreams, which they navigate into the darkest abysses. They take the viewer on a journey that, driven by fiction, reality and nightmare, glides through the past, present and future, its final destination unknown.
