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1899 is the prequel to Gerard Depardieu’s epic war drama, 1900…. I lie.
We first see Maura Franklin (Emily Beecham – Daphne, The Pursuit Of Love) being locked up in mental asylum, wondering what’s happened to her brother, with events making me question: Is it real? Is it a dream? Is it time for a Young Adult novel again? That’ll often be a reason why I don’t know what’s going on.
Either way, she has a letter from her brother, stating “Don’t trust anyone“.
Beginning on October 19th, everyone’s going to party like it’s 1899… well, actually, they’re a bit worried, because we learn that the Steamship Prometheus missing still after four months, and also learning that are the passengers on a similar ship that’s built by the same company.
Here, Maura is helping a pregnant woman, after which the captain makes a brave decision after receiving a message from a lost ship, and discovers something mind-blowing which I won’t reveal here.
However, what’s perhaps more odd, is that the passengers on the ship are a whole group of disparate individuals, all from different countries, and that stands out because when the Chinese visitors see a ton of knives and forks on the table, they’re not sure why there’s so many… Who would go on a cruise ship where you’re not likely to enjoy yourself? Holidays aren’t cheap, and I’d prefer to go somewhere I know I’ll at least have a chance of enjoying.
Plus, I like to see the sights… not the inside of a pokey cabin room.
However, before too long, some supernatural-type stuff starts happening that I won’t spoil here, but in the first hour, you need more to take place, since it feels like the plot takes forever to get anywhere.
But what’s caused all this? The Millennium Bug again? May as well have been. About the only thing which made sense in the opener is hearing Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit. I love that track.
I tried a second episode, but I struggled to finish it, as it was like wading through thick soup. The endless mumbling from the cast didn’t help, either.
Hence, so far, 1899 is all at sea…
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
1899 is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from Thursday November 17th.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 60 minutes per episode (10 episodes)
Release date: November 17th 2022
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.39:1
Director: Baran bo Odar
Producer: Pat Tookey-Dickson
Creators: Baran bo Odar, Jantje Friese
Writers: Baran bo Odar, Jantje Friese, Emma Ko, Coline Abert, Emil Nygaard Albertsen, Jerome Bucchan-Nelson, Juliana Lima Dehne, Joshua Long, Darío Madrona
Music: Ben Frost
Cast:
Maura Franklin: Emily Beecham
Ling Yi: Isabella Wei
Daniel: Aneurin Barnard
Clémence: Mathilde Ollivier
Eyk Larsen: Andreas Pietschmann
Tove: Clara Rosager
Ángel: Miguel Bernardeau
Olek: Maciej Musial
Virginia: Rosalie Craig
Krester: Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen
Iben: Maria Erwolter
Jérôme: Yann Gael
Ramiro: José Pimentão
Yuk Je: Gabby Wong
Lucien: Jonas Bloquet
Elliot: Fflyn Edwards
Anker: Alexandre Willaume
Franz: Isaak Dentler
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.