I wish Anna Friel had broken out of the Marcella mould to do something completely different. I feel like she is now typecast to be an atypical off-the-rails detective spiralling into (or from) a nervous breakdown who always solves the case using unconventional means. Chuck in a supernatural element and you've got The Box.
Conceptually there is so much good stuff here, yet it fails to be creepy enough, cohesive enough, or edge of your seat enough to actually level up to being anything compelling enough to recommend. The half hour episodes don't help. The lack of locations make it stifling - which is clearly intended to amp up the overall psychological oppresiveness - it fails to do so. Midway through the series, the case should have been ramping up significantly, some red herrings thrown in. A bit of actual legwork should be involved (forensics don't even seem to come into it). That Pici is still walking around with a badge at this point is ridiculous enough in itself as she jitters her way out of one absurd situation into another whilst her colleagues orbit around her, clucking with anxiety like mother hens. Peter Stormare seems to be hamming it up for the Razzie awards which would be well-deserved if he gets nominated (I'm hoping he goes head to head with the actor who plays Marco Inaros on the Expanse). The ending is one big massive confusing mess.
The premise is great. The execution leaves a lot to be desired. There's plenty of better stuff on the box (see what I did there?!)
Conceptually there is so much good stuff here, yet it fails to be creepy enough, cohesive enough, or edge of your seat enough to actually level up to being anything compelling enough to recommend. The half hour episodes don't help. The lack of locations make it stifling - which is clearly intended to amp up the overall psychological oppresiveness - it fails to do so. Midway through the series, the case should have been ramping up significantly, some red herrings thrown in. A bit of actual legwork should be involved (forensics don't even seem to come into it). That Pici is still walking around with a badge at this point is ridiculous enough in itself as she jitters her way out of one absurd situation into another whilst her colleagues orbit around her, clucking with anxiety like mother hens. Peter Stormare seems to be hamming it up for the Razzie awards which would be well-deserved if he gets nominated (I'm hoping he goes head to head with the actor who plays Marco Inaros on the Expanse). The ending is one big massive confusing mess.
The premise is great. The execution leaves a lot to be desired. There's plenty of better stuff on the box (see what I did there?!)