Series Review: "1899" (2022).

"What is lost will be found" in 1899. This period mystery-science fiction television series created by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar. A migrant steamship heads west to leave the old continent. The passengers, a mixed bag of European origins, united by their hopes and dreams for the new century and their future abroad. But their journey takes an unexpected turn when they discover another migrant ship adrift on the open sea. What they will find on board will turn their passage to the promised land into a horrifying nightmare.

In mid November 2018, it was announced that Friese and Odar were developing a new project for Netflix under their overall deal at the streaming service. The series was confirmed to be moving forward two weeks later during a Netflix press conference showcasing European original programming. By July 2020, Odar revealed via Instagram that Friese had completed writing the script for the pilot episode, titled The Ship. During an interview with Deadline Hollywood, Friese explained how the European migrant crisis and Brexit were influential to the series. The staff writing team comprised writers of different nationalities. According to Odar, all scripts were first written in English, then the non-English sections were translated by the staff writers and/or translators. Odar had phonetic copies of the script on set, and language assistants were present during filming to ensure the accuracy of the dialogue. In late November, pre-production officially commenced with a week-long lens test shoot taking place. By early May 2021, Emily Beecham, Aneurin Barnard, Andreas Pietschmann, Miguel Bernardeau, José Pimentão, Isabella Wei, Gabby Wong, Yann Gael, Mathilde Ollivier, Jonas Bloquet, Rosalie Craig, Maciej Musiał, Clara Rosager, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Maria Erwolter, Alexandre Willaume, Tino Mewes, Isaak Dentler, Fflyn Edwards, and Anton Lesser were cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in November. Filming took place at Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, the only designated UNESCO Creative City of Film in Germany. Principal photography was initially scheduled to commence in early February 2021, but was later pushed back by three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series was shot in a new virtual production stage called Volume, operated by bo Odar and Friese's sister company Dark Bay, at Studio Babelsberg. Filming also took place in London, United Kingdom. Creative studio Framestore provided visual effects for the series. The budget for the series was at least €60 million ($62.2 million) with €2 million coming from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, €10 million coming from the German Motion Picture Fund, and Netflix investing €48 million in the project. The show is the most expensive German television series of all time.

Yes, with the enormous and diverse cast, it's tough to keep track of who, what and when but this is a seriously exciting series with twists and reveals to send you into a whirl.

The show, while being a good series, and having some truly intriguing aspects, doesn't have enough of an emotional hook to make it a truly standout show.

Simon says 1899 receives:

Also, see my review for Dark.