Find Out Why The OA Is One Of The Most Underrated Gems On Netflix

In the twenty years that Netflix has been around it’s been primarily distributing films and TV shows produced by other people – but over the last four or five years, things have been changing. Once a humble DVD-rental company, Netflix now commissions more programming than any other single American network or TV channel.

It’s a tactic which has paid dividends, with the online streaming platform now regularly cleaning up at industry awards ceremonies. Original programming like House Of Cards, Orange Is The New Black, The Queen and Stranger things have ensured that it’s always being talked about, and more than 85 million people around the world now use the service.

Once relatively recent piece of programming which has so far flown under the radar to some extent is The OA. It’s a mystery drama which draws in elements of sci-fi and fantasy, and which debuted at the end of last year. Although it’s gaining traction among fans, it’s a bit of an undiscovered gem at the moment – but if you’re a fan of a cracking mystery then it will probably be up your street.

It’s got a rating of 74% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Tom Gliatto of People Magazine said it was, “A crazy-brilliant fantasy that obeys no rules-drama, launched with minimal fanfare that only enhanced its buzzed-about mysteriousness.”

His comments were echoed by Clark Collis of Entertainment Weekly, who said that, “If Stranger Things is an immediately yummy, nostalgia-inducing bowl of Count Chocula then The OA is a meal both fresher and more exotic, while still succeeding as a televisual page-turner.”

The basic premise of the series is that a young woman, Prairie Johnson, who has reappeared after going missing for seven years, albeit with serious scarring on her back. Prairie, who is adopted, begins calling herself ‘The OA’ following her return and her adoptive parents soon discover that, despite Prairie being blind when she went missing, she can now see perfectly.

She is extremely reticent to reveal any information about where she has been or what has happened to her for her sight to be restored to either her parents, or the authorities, but she assembles a gang of five local people to whom she reveals the truth. She tells her confidants her life story, what happened to her while she was away and how her sight was restored, then asks for their help in a mission. To reveal more would be to spoil the show, but it’s a storyline that’s full of twists and turns and once you start watching, you’ll have a hard time switching it off! It’s already been commissioned for a second season, so you can rest easy in the knowledge that there’s another series coming soon if you do get hooked.

Criticism has not been entirely favourable, and some comparisons have been made with Netflix’s other sci-fi drama, Stranger Things. It’s an unfair comparison to make as the two shows are so different, and the OA has every bit as much in the way of plot, acting and cinematography to recommend it – but a bit less hype!

One of the stand-out performances in The OA is by one of our speakers for hire Alice Krige, who plays Prairie’s adoptive mother Nancy Johnson. She plays the part of a mother torn between the relief that her daughter is home and the confusion about the circumstances in which it occurred. She’s a recurring character who delivers a consistently excellent performance, perfectly complementing that of Brit Marling as Prairie Johnson.

Krige is a world-renowned actress who first hit the spotlight playing the singer Sybil Gordon, in the 1981 film of Chariots of Fire. Since then she has appeared in several well regarded films and TV series, although she is most beloved among fans for her role as the Borg Queen in the Star Trek film franchise. One of the other TV shows in which she has made an appearance is The 4400, a series which was based on a similar premise to The OA, in which 4400 people who had previously gone missing, reappeared.

MN2S talent agency

Alice Krige is a talented actress and one of our most interesting celebrity speakers, with a varied background in everything from the flamboyant sci-fi of Star Trek to the serious, issue-based film Skin, a biopic of Sandra Laing. She’s a brilliant after dinner speaker who is sure to light up any room, so if you’re interested in booking this star of stage and screen, get in touch with MN2S talent agency today.

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