Equinox Netflix : Equinox, based on an acclaimed podcast and written and created by Tea Lindeburg, produced by Dorthe Riis Lauridsen, and executive produced by Piv Bernth and her company, the ITV Studio-backed Apple Tree Productions, the Danish production company behind The Killing and The Bridge, will premiere on Netflix NFLX -0.1 percent.
The supernatural thriller is a six-part mystery-driven storey that delves into folklore mythology.
Equinox’ is a new Netflix Danish series with a captivating folk tale mystery
Equinox appeared to be the next version of the German series Dark in the trailer released by Netflix a month ago, as a short clip suggested a similar theme exploring the possibilities of different realities.
Equinox is a cross between Stranger Things, Midsommar (minus the horror), and The Returned, a fantastic French series.
Equinox sets up an intriguing mystery by setting a folk tale in modern times to explore more existential questions, but it ends up being too enigmatic, leaving a lot of loose ends and unanswered questions.
Ida (Karoline Hamm) is celebrating her graduation with her classmates in the first episode of Equinox.
After graduation, students from the same class ride in an open-backed truck to the homes of each of their classmates, where parents offer them food and drinks, as is customary in Denmark.
Little Astrid (Viola Martinsen) overhears a tense argument between her big sister and their mother Lene as they arrive at Ida’s house (Hanne Hedelund).
The mother appears overly protective and worried, as if she doesn’t want Ida to get back in the truck.
With good reason, too, because Ida and her classmates, all 21 of them, will vanish without a trace that same night.
Only Jakob (August Carter), Amelia (Fanny Leander Bornedal), and Falke (Emil Mossberg Truelsen) remain from the graduating class, and as Astrid will discover, they quickly became the prime suspects in their classmates’ disappearance.
Astrid is now the mother of a young girl and divorced from her husband after twenty-one years.
Until she receives an enigmatic phonecall from Jakob, her life is relatively peaceful.
Astrid begins to investigate her sister’s disappearance under the guise of conducting research for a new radio programme.
As the series shifts between the two time periods—1999 and 2020—Astrid’s quest will lead her to the meaning of her childhood nightmares.
However, as the episodes progress and Astrid unravels as she delves deeper into the rabbit hole to discover the truth about Ida and the day she vanished, it becomes clear that Equinox is a storey about a young girl trying to make sense of her older sister’s disappearance as she grieves for her loss, and thus plunges into a folk tale to give it meaning.
Equinox’s final goal is to investigate the role of folklore mythology in modern society.
The characters are obsessed with the legend of Ostara, the goddess of Spring.
In fact, the series is littered with allusions to the storey, with rabbits, hares, and the number 21 always lurking in the background.
Equinox is attempting to delve into more philosophical thinking through a retelling of this folk tale, such as determinism vs. free will, and fantasy vs. reality.
These two schools of thought are exemplified by the two sisters. Ida confides in Jakob that she feels powerless because everything appears to be predetermined.
We’re all alone on our path through life, like a tiny man trapped inside a dandelion, Ida laments.
While Ida is debating free will, her younger sister is debating the meaning of reality.
Astrid is plagued by nightmares throughout her childhood, questions about what reality is versus fantasy arise throughout the series.
Equinox is most intriguing at the points in the series where folklore mythology meets philosophy.
Unfortunately, all of these intriguing philosophical musings about reality, imagination, folklore mythologies, and their foundation in reality seem to drown in an enigmatic narrative that feels too far-fetched in the end.
So much emphasis is placed on Astrid’s character’s pursuit and her emotional turmoil, her painful grief, that some of the film’s more interesting themes are overlooked.
The series feels too much like a race for the truth—a truth that, by the end, isn’t entirely clear (the truth about where reality lies? ), because so many questions remain unanswered.
The conclusion feels rushed rather than satisfying, and thus loses credibility.
Overall, Equinox is an engrossing mystery that captures various aspects of grief.
Equinox is a quick and easy binge-worthy series with only six episodes and a stellar cast.
