Here is my review of the new Danish Netflix Science fiction mystery Series Chosen 2022. In the Danish Netflix series Chosen, there is combine amateur sleuths of possible otherworldly influences, strange signals from outer space, odd fungi, a disappearing man, conspiracy theories, and some mild horny teenage angst.
Get your aluminum hats and let’s dive in.
Chosen (2022) Netflix Series Review
Emma has always felt different from anyone else in her small Danish town that became world-famous when it was said that a meteor entered the atmosphere and crashed into it 17 years earlier.
Now, the town is no longer what it has been, and the question is whether it has ever been what it pretends to be at all.
So the Sci-Fi mystery follows a handful of older teenagers who live in a small town where its only claim to fame is that a meteor struck and then created this massive crater.
Some of the kids believe that there’s more to the story and they spend all of their time collecting evidence and then intel on just about everything that goes on in that town.
At the same time, we’re being introduced to the young cast, a group of scientists discover some sort of mysterious signal that’s coming from the town and they pack up their gear to go investigate.
Now, while the backbone of this show is science fiction, there’s a good amount of drama and mystery that encompasses the story.
The teens are attempting to solve a mystery that they know nothing about. I mean, they have clues, but they have no idea what they mean.
It’s kind of funny when they work to get answers, but because they don’t know what’s happening, they could stumble on an answer and not really even know it.
I found most of the characters to be pretty charismatic and easy to get behind. While I can’t really relate to them, they’re played with great emotion, not overblowing scenarios which make the interactions feel pretty natural despite some very unnatural circumstances.
Sometimes the dialogue is a little overdramatic, but because the intrigue of the show had captured my attention, this didn’t really bother me.
The story parcels out the information pretty efficiently, balancing the mystery with the reveals, and I kind of like that we don’t have to wait until the end for some of the bigger plot points to be shown to us.
I mean even though we may not have the full understanding of what we’re being shown at the moment of that reveal.
I love the use of lighting in this many scenes use extreme colors to shade the settings and the characters, which typically brings out more contrast in the darker colors and the shadows, which then creates an air of creepy mystery.
Purples and Reds are predominantly used in this, which naturally just make things feel a little bit more cryptic. I enjoyed the special effects that are used in the show too. Most of the time they’re not huge or overused.
For example, there is these pearlescent neon lights that pull through something, or then we’ll see a tool that a character might have that kind of behaves like it can morph into different things. These had a good aesthetic to the production, but don’t go overboard in their usage.
Some of the settings in this reminded me of the town of Venden in the show Dark. Now, I’m not really comparing that show with this one, but there are location similarities that I appreciated because that one is the greatest show ever created.
And this isn’t a perfect show though. I mean, there are some plot conveniences built in that allow certain characters access to things that they’d never really be able to access.
But by doing so, these also help the narrative move forward. Then also, despite these conveniences, there are parts during the show that tend to drag a bit.
I mean, more so because the characters are in holding patterns with just situations that feel kind of repetitive. It goes back to them trying to solve a mystery that they don’t know anything about.
Each of the six episodes hovers in the 40 to 50 minutes range, so it’s not a massive time commitment if you choose to binge.
I think the soundtrack is a pretty great miss. Utilizing a bunch of fun rock and pop songs, and I really liked how these were used sometimes during crazier scenes to add this sense of playfulness to something that was kind of a bit dire.
One, in particular, is a pretty violent sequence and the music choice creates this weird mood, but it works. And in that scene, most of the action takes place offscreen, so we don’t see all of the actual violence, but then we do get to see a glimpse of the gory aftermath.
I like that as we get more and more into the story, it begins to have some weight for the characters. Decisions need to be made, but they’re not simple or easy choices.
I was surprised at how well the story was able to draw me into itself and then invest me in the decisions that the characters had to make.
Some of those decisions did seem to come on a little abruptly though. I know the show has been building towards this, but the time from a reveal to a major decision is pretty sudden in comparison with how info and decisions play out in the rest of the season.
Some of the editing and this is really executed well and we’ll have Emma who will be someplace that has furnishings or people all around her, and as the camera spins around, everything or everyone disappears, leaving her in a pretty empty space.
It’s impressive and immersive, and it doesn’t look like the scene cuts at all during the transitions. But then there are also a few times where editing mistakes can be seen. These aren’t major, but they’re still present and noticeable.
In terms of the end of this season, I really began to feel a building sense of urgency. While there wasn’t necessarily a time limit built-in, there were circumstances that created some tense anxiety as a character faced a decision.
So overall Chosen is an engaging mystery with a major sci-fi foundation for its story. The characters are fairly charismatic and they drew me into the narrative with their emotions and interactions.
I enjoyed how the story rolled out giving us small reveals and information along the way rather than holding it all until the final moments of the show.
The soundtrack is very fitting with the tone of the show and the editing and special effects create a wonderful aesthetic that complements the story even though they’re not always perfectly executed.
And while the pace is pretty efficient there are still portions that are somewhat repetitive and they drag making this feel longer than it is at times.
This is a decent watch but not something that I think you need to drop everything for in order to binge. There’s sex nudity, a lot of profanity, and some violence.
I am going to give Chosen (2022) Netflix Series 3.5/5.
So Should Chosen be on your watchlist? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.Â
Guys thank you so much as always for reading the review of the new Netflix Series Chosen 2022. See you next time.
Chosen (2022) Netflix Series Trailer
Check out the trailer of the new Danish Netflix Science fiction mystery Series Chosen 2022.
