Requiem is a British series broadcast on Netflix but also on the BBC. It was created in 2018 by Kris Mrksa, writer on series like The Slap or Nowhere Boys.
The story of Requiem is that of Matilda Gray known as Tilly. This young Londoner is very close to her mother who raised her alone. Tilly is about to embark on an international cello tour after a glorious year.
Without warning and just before one of his last concerts, his mother commits suicide violently in front of Matilda. Baffled and shocked, Tilly finds in her mother's belongings, a box containing photos and newspaper clippings recounting the facts of an unsolved kidnapping case in Wales. The little girl is called Carys Howell and she is about Matilda's age.
Tilly, intrigued, decides to investigate to discover the link between her mother and this little girl. Tilly goes there accompanied by Hal, a London friend and musician.
On the spot, they discover that an old man living in a large castle has killed himself in a mysterious way. The two musicians meet the heir of the castle. This thirty-year-old Australian then invited them to stay in his castle and they accepted.
As soon as Tilly enters the building she feels like intuitions. She immediately knows where the entrance to the hidden basement room is where there are strange recordings. These sounds come from the forest around the estate.
Tilly continues to have nightmares. They're going to turn out to be flashbacks. She discovers that she is indeed Carys, who was kidnapped by the one she thought was her mother. The latter wanted to protect her from people who practiced half-scientific, half-mystical experiments on Carys when she was a child.
Eventually, Tilly chooses to continue the experiments of the village members and transforms into a monster.
And that's it, if you like British countryside atmospheres like Downtown Abbey, strange mysteries and stories of child abductions, go for it!
The sets of Requiem are sumptuous and really do justice to this beautiful country that is Wales. Indeed, the green expanses and oppressive forests are so present that one would think that they are characters in their own right. It really feels like we are in another time and we sometimes feel confused like the character of Hal facing some rough characters of the Welsh countryside.
The suspense and mystery last until the end of the sixth episode. The clues are distilled as the episodes go by and theories are developed. We take pleasure in linking the clues together.
The credits play a fairly important role in this atmosphere. Indeed, its music and graphics reinforce the feeling of strangeness and shift of the series.
Music and sound work are also an integral part of the series. This helps greatly to immerse yourself in the story and to want to move forward in it.
The acting of some characters can get in the way. Sometimes the actress playing Tilly gives the impression of overplaying in certain sequences in which she walks around the house. However, it can also work in its favor because the viewer is lost and wonders what is the truth or not. This game of cat and mouse is quite present in the episodes.
In addition, the guideline is not always clear. Requiem swings between reality and fiction. It's not easy to know if the story is about a rapture or the supernatural. However, it makes the suspense last and the atmosphere of the series lasts.
The very aesthetic imagery of Requiem plunges us directly into his universe.The impeccable and gripping script erases the clumsiness of some actors.
