Paradis City

It's frightening near-future series that feels very relevant given the increasing gang crime in Sweden. This is a nightmare that doesn't feel unrealistic. It's a good serie and a moderately political action thriller. Even though there are some clichès, Paradise City is exciting and worth applauding. Stylish and fast-paced with impressive settings. The performance are generally as well. The serie "Snabba Cash" is also based on a book by Jens Lapidus, which was slightly better, but this one is more than worth watching. Six episodes feel perfect as it allows the pace to be maintained. I've watched 4 episodes and can hardly wait for the next one.

I was genuinely excited to start watching this series because of all the hype in Sweden. Unfortunately, after six episodes, I'm left disappointed. While the visuals are undeniably stunning and the premise had the potential to be fantastic, the execution leaves much to be desired. It's evident that a significant budget went into the production, but it's wasted on a story that feels disjointed and underwhelming.

The tone of the series feels oddly off, almost as if it's torn between wanting to be mature and gritty, but ending up coming across as juvenile and simplistic. Some scenes are so unrealistic that they take you completely out of the experience. Dialogue is another weak point; it's awkward and unnatural, especially when characters who are supposed to be hardened criminals sound more like teenagers playing dress-up.

What's even more frustrating is the script, which feels outdated and riddled with clichés. It's as though the writer relied heavily on stereotypes and preconceived notions rather than crafting believable, multi-dimensional characters. The result is a story that lacks depth and fails to resonate.

In the end, the series falls flat despite its glossy exterior. There's a sense of wasted potential that's hard to ignore, and the disconnect between what it could have been and what it actually is makes it all the more disappointing.

The wide opening shot of a wall surrounding the troubled suburbs of Stockholm in a near future gives the viewer hope - this could be interesting.

But... unfortunately, from that and onwards it's a fall into an amateurish abyss. Absolutely nothing is exciting, original or ever poignant. Instead the writing, directing and overall production is closer to a B or even C movie.

The overall look is especially poor - absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever.

And what exactly is the plot?!

I hope the book is better, because whoever wrote this adaption has little understanding of building a suspenseful narrative.

And it feels so low budget in comparison - but with more talented filmmakers one could have achieved a far more visual dystopian look. Budget or not.

For example, staging a scene where the prime minister is holding a speech in front of an angry crowd, a mob - is no small feat. You need resources or a talent for cheating - well. Here it comes off as a children's show.

If you want to have a "bad guy" as your protagonist - please do better. Make him more interesting. Not paper thin, cliché and moronic - just acting tough. Remember Snake Plissken?!

This is basically a different version of Banlieu 13/District 13 (French) and Escape from New York, take your pick. Both are just variations on the same theme society has devolved and walked off the lower echelons from the rest of the country. Which creates more problems than it solves.

Ultimately, someone decides to take matters into their hands and take a stand. Whether by choice or accident. In this case by choice. The main make character that is supposed to be an ex-MMA fighter doesn't look like he's ever taken a punch, or thrown one.

I've only watched the first episode but I honestly was hoping for better.

It's like a show made in the 90s of how they thought the future would be. Bad casting, bad acting and bad costume. The dialogue is horrible as always when theater actors is trying to sound like normal people. I can't imagine this is what Jens Lapidus pictured when he wrote the novel it's based upon.

Too bad since the plot is pretty interesting and they have some interesting names in the cast as Abdallah and Gudnasson. But as with almost all tv in Sweden that tries to portray some sort of reality, it fails.

Watch instead the Netflix show Snabba Cash for a more dystopian look on Swedish society. Don't need to look into the future - it's here right now.