really, really good series. gripping, visually stimulating and superb cast. especially shira haas, she is amazing as esty. i didn't know what to expect going into this show, but it really sucked me in. i keep thinking about it, the characters really stuck with me. especially since it's based on a true story.

This was such an interesting series, it sent me down a YouTube rabbit hole the rest of my day: watching interviews, researching the source material, seeing reactions and following rabbit trails, in general. This series is inspired by a autobiographical book of the same title by Deborah Feldman. That is to say, that the story in New York was pretty close to her story but the part about Berlin was fictionalized. This is not a commentary on Ultra Orthodox Hasidic Judaism but is the story of one person’s experience leaving such a community. It deserves all the award attention it got (Emmy, BAFTA, Critics Choice, etc). The writing is tight. The story feels authentic. The story is told with compassion. Shira Haas breaks your heart and then makes you stand up and cheer. I highly recommend this curated journey to another reality. It will broaden your world view and exercise your humanity. I give this film a 10 (compelling) out of 10. [Drama]

I've never despised a character as much as this [spoiler] Yanky [/spoiler] dude since Dolores Umbridge times. Fuck that guy 100 times.

Gets a lot more conventional once this establishes itself firmly in Berlin, although Shira Haas is such a natural, powerful presence that following familiar story beats through her eyes is still fairly involving, and this is the rare narrative where its extended flashback structure of gratifyingly little-hand-holding, specific community details actually adds much breadth to a story. The tense first episode also shows off director Maria Schrader's sturdy chops of sustaining an atmosphere of paranoid dread right off the bat for so long, without having to establish much context, that I'm kind of interested to see her take on a thriller.