The opening scene of the luminous, the Serie from Apple TV+ created by Silka Luisa according to the novel of the same title by Lauren Beukes (2013), it manages to make us uncomfortable in the same way as the short story A perfect day for banana fish, by JD Salinger (1948), but with a different essence. And, from a single sentence, he points to where the shots of his fantastic or science fiction plot go, so he is very adept at his narrative economy for this purpose.
On the other hand, since we see her on screen giving life to Kirby, the Californian Elizabeth Moss prove again that it is an unstoppable force of nature as an actress. Something that cannot be pointed out in many of her colleagues and that, in any case, is indisputable by her Zoey Bartlet in The West Wing of the White House (1999-2006), the Peggy Olson of Mad Men (2007-2015) or, above all, his monumental June Osborne in The Handmaid’s Tale (since 2017).
The subtle way in which they provide us with details about the core of the story in which their insecure character is involved, and their own characteristics, powerfully attract our attention. Especially the rather strange ones. So the enigmas that arise serve very well so that we are willing to stay before the luminous and that Silka Luisa and her team resolve the doubts that have arisen in us.
From Interest to Enthusiasm with Elisabeth Moss
Take your time to develop the intrigue because this is not some mediocre procedural, and knows how to hit us with surprising turns but full of coherence that, to the astonishment of the respectable, make us remember certain circumstances that are unfolding in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. or of Frequencya film by Gregory Hoblit (2000) unjustly forgotten and of which the caller (2011) and his remake The phone (2020) are sad imitations.
visual planning by director Michelle MacLaren, who has cut her teeth in series of the caliber of The X-Files (From 1993), breaking bad (2008-2013), Game of Thrones (2011-2019) or The Leftovers (2014-2017), and company is adequate but not splendid. He sometimes stands out for his use of blurry close-ups that lighten slowly, and he benefits from the light montage signed by Blake Maniquis, a regular in Narcos: Mexico (2018-2021), and Hugo Diaz, of Masters of Sex (2013-2016).
For the same intensity in the interpretation of Elisabeth Moss, executive producer of the luminous like Leonardo DiCaprio and Lauren Beukes herself, discoveries excite us more than we would have thought. Wagner Moura, for his part, convinces with his Dan Velázquez; and the british Jamie Bell composes a very different character whom he usually chooses, with a meticulous effort to disturb the spectators by their mere presence.
‘The Luminous’, among the best of the season
As we understand as we go along, the Serie by Silka Luisa for Apple TV+ resembles counter part (2017-2019) in the sense that the extraordinary ingredientsalthough they are at the bottom of the mystery and the most spectacular revelations are about them, they seem an excuse to build the gender argument specific. About espionage in that one and crimes in the luminous. And their ability to catch us largely depends on it.
His scripts, cunning, play with the past, the present and the future without us realizing it from the start, a very reasonable aspect due to the fantastic heart of the narrative. And with our expectations in moments of opening our eyes wide and holding on tightly to the seat because of what we fear will happen. In this way and thanks to the decent audiovisual set and the warp of the story, absorbs us and drives us crazy. do yourself a favor and go the luminous. You will not regret it.