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Good American Family
Simbiat
Simbiat

The situation that show describes is just plain awful. The show itself... Let's just say I understand why the show got quite a few bad reviews. And it's not the actors' play which did not feel natural at times, but was ok overall, and not the cinematography of it all, which was fine, I did not notice anything damning.

The problem is the approach to the story. Or rather the way it was split. The show tries to be unbiased (with more leaning towards the Natalia, which should be the case), but its first half (that is 4 episodes) will make you think that the showrunners side with Kristine. If I did not see a comment from someone who had a chance to see the whole series before it was fully released, I would have dropped it around episode 2, maybe 3, because it felt ridiculous and illogical.

I get why they did this. This was just easier to dramatize, especially since the "family" is together for the first half and then splits while shifting perspective towards Natalia. I get it, but I think it was a bad choice. It would have been better if the split was done each episode: first half showing Kristine's perspective, and second half - Natalia's.

This approach would have been much more difficult, of course. It would have required a way to visually separate the 2 parts, and also tell the same events in a way that would not repeat too much, so that it would not be boring to essentially rewatch the first half of the episode twice.

As is, though, each half of the show feels one-sided, and the 2nd half feels... Too "light"? Which is not necessarily a bad thing, and I am honestly happy for the real Natalia, that this stuff now seems behind her (as far as I know), and I hope she will find true happiness after years of sometimes literal torture. It's just that if I am to judge the show itself - it loses its grip on the audience by the end of it all.

So if you simply want to learn about this horrendous story - it's probably fine, but beware, that you need to sit through the first half no matter how uncomfortable it is.