Parallel Universes Review: The New Disney + Series

One season, six episodes and four friends grappling with the last day of school before high school and early summer. All very quiet, until the small group consisting of Bilal (Omar Mebrouk)Viktor (Jules Houplain)Roman (Jade Pedri) and Samuel (Tomas Chomel) decides to celebrate Bilal’s birthday in a bunker in the middle of the forest, on the very day when the universe seems determined to give a damn about every physical rule and mix everything up.

In an atmosphere of happiness despite Viktor’s rejection, Roman and Samuel try to meet their love with a first kiss, which will be interrupted by a blackout in full style Dark leaving Samuel alone and desperate. Roman, Viktor and Bilal they will disappear in the void and a bearded and clumsy man will take their place.

Every rule of the universe no longer exists and the theory of Everett multiverses begins to make his way into Samuel’s life with Sofia’s help (Naidra Ayadi), Bilal’s mother and physicistERN.

Where have Bilal, Roman and Viktor gone? Who is the bearded man who appeared in the bunker? These are the questions that Samuel will begin to ask himself, the police and especially Sofia.

Here she is synopsis from Parallels, new series released in March 2022 on Disney plus with the production of Quoc Dang Tran, which wants to establish itself in the sci-fi market with the pretense of talking about multiverses, along the lines of the cinema of the 80s.

Parallel Universes: The Inevitable Confrontation

When you start a new TV series you are full of hope; if you are a bit of a nerd, however, when reading a plot with sci-fi terms and a title that leaves little to interpretation, the trepidation rises even more and you can’t wait to see it.

An abandoned bunker in the heart of a forest, four thirteen-year-olds, the desire to escape from a peaceful mountain village and the fear of the future that awaits them. A narrative structure based on unexpected events that upset the boys and an apparently unsolvable mystery, which is duplicated and divided at the same time into an upside-down version of the same world, and which inevitably involves a mother and a policeman. You can’t help but think of Stranger Things oh Dark (if we focus on the involvement of the ERN in the plot).

Let’s move on, however, for a respectful analysis of the series.

Parallel Universes: Sometimes a good pen is not enough

One thing is certain, the story being told has immense potential. Following the influences of major film and television products, it is in some points a decidedly innovative series accompanied by strategically chosen music for the target audience.

Quoc Dang Tran together with the photography of Antony Diaz, typical of already acclaimed series but with less dark tones, with its screenplay, it stands out from the usual French comedy and brings to the screen a series made above all of close-ups and subjective. The problem is that a great texture or a great pen is not enough to make a good product. If this is to be imposed on the sci-fi cinema market, it must live up to the context. Photography, editing and excellent shooting are not accompanied by a fluid plot, but by a plot that struggles to develop and that often, when it develops, opens and closes a narrative arc in a second, launching “Spannung” here and there without a actual intention. In short, everything goes absolutely too fast, leading to a bigger problem of unstructured dialogue and dubbing: an ending devoid of the typical cliffhanger for which the viewer instead of wondering about the future, wonders if the product is exclusively for children.

Parallel Universes Trailer