As a little break in between the two featured franchises, I managed to finally check out TV mini-series Residue. I’ve been meaning to since I saw it on Netflix a few months ago but never actually got around to it. Residue is only 3 episodes long and each episode is about 40-45 minutes long. It is completely doable to do in one sitting. I took it as a movie which is generally the length of any movie now.
Let’s check it out!
Residue (Mini-series, 2015)
Director: Alex Garcia Lopez
Cast: Natalia Tena, Iwan Rheon, Jamie Draven, Danny Webb, Franz Drameh, Adrian Schiller, Eleanor Matsuura
The government cover-up of the causes behind a massive explosion in a futuristic UK metropolis spur photo journalist Jennifer Preston on to search for the truth and in the process blow open a paranormal phenomenon haunting the city.-IMDB
I’m not one to watch mini series frequently but Residue looks to have a well-crafted atmosphere or the poster shows it like that. On top of that, Residue has Natalia Tena and I absolutely loved her in Harry Potter as Tonks and even more in ….. There is something about her that makes her really fun to watch in her roles. Maybe it is because she shows off characters that are more of a tough and brave girl. Her roles show off a lot of personality and that is always nice to see. That is no differerent for Residue.
Residue is an incredibly atmospheric mini series. Plus, it has a rather unique take. The production setting itself attributes to it a lot. The mostly evacuated city and the quarantined zone both hold a strong contrast. There is a strewn of characters aside from Jennifer, Natalia Tena’s character, that take us to look at how people from different backgrounds and sectors of this new dystopian future world is reacting and adapting. A lot of the amusement of the series goes to this factor as we see the political side, the underground gang and even the police force and also the unnoticed that sneak around. No one knows everything but everyone seems to know a little as they each seem to be intrigued to find out more. And it is because of these range of characters that make us also want to learn more about what is actually going on after the explosion.
While Residue has a great production set and story premise and even really great cast in each of the roles, the one thing that lacks a little is the relationships between the characters. It is hard to care too much about a character when we don’t quite understand the importance of their roles to the people they are linked to. The mini series dumps you into the story rather quickly. We know that our main character Jennifer and her boyfriend Jonas are very much in love however we lose a sense of where it all lost track months later and its hard to pinpoint where they are in their relationship anymore. This has a lot to do with the fact that the mini series is only three episodes. If there was more time, probably more care would be place into building the characters more. At the same time, possibly the role that gets the most lost in the equation is the cop Mathis who we know has some sort of addiction or problem and ends up losing his daughter in the explosion. He looks like a rather young character so its hard to imagine that he did lose a daughter and we don’t have any pretext as to what went on and how he turned out to be like that. The devastation is expected but he seems to be the less developed character that may have gotten more especially with his turnout.
It is hard for me to look at Residue and not question whether it would have been a fantastic full series. There could be so many angles to take this especially with everything in place. At three episodes, there just isn’t enough to justify a lot of what is going on and many times, especially the ending, there is a sinking feeling of wanting it to be more. However, for some, perhaps this is the brilliance as it will leave the audience guessing the outcome in a rather open ending. Honestly, I like Residue a lot despite the minor faults here. In some ways, while I didn’t connect to the characters as much as I’d like to, the atmosphere resounded with me and got me a little creeped out and some genuinely chilling moments. And if this ever did turn into something with more length, I would be totally on board to see it built more. It would be fun creepy ride that just doesn’t seem to be in the TV market right now.
Have you seen Residue? What are some mini series that you like?
Tranquil Dreams 