Paranormal is an Egyptian web television series, directed by Amr Salama and Majid Al Ansari. It is based on Ahmed Khaled Tawfik's supernatural book series Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa. It stars Ahmed Amin, Samma Ibrahim, Razane Jammal, Aya Samaha, Reem Abd El Kader, Adam Wahdan in the main roles. This series has a total of 6 episodes, 45-55 minutes each, and was released on 5th November 2020 on Netflix.
The story is set in 1969, and Dr. Refaat Ismail (Ahmed Amin) who is a professor in hematology, collides with his past crush, Maggie Mckillop (Razane Jammal), who has come from Scotland, and he takes her to his sister's home for a party. There Maggi meets Howaida (Aya Samaha) Rafeet's fiance, and his sister Raeefa (Samma Ibrahim), and when they are having their dinner, someone brings up the story of Shiraz, a ghost, Refaat's first love, whom he met at a mansion when they were just kids. But now Raeefa's son, Taha is haunted by Shiraz, and has returned to haunt Refaat again. But Refaat doesn't believe in ghosts, he believes in science and facts that have reasons, not some sh*t like supernatural and paranormal.
The story is written by Amr Salama, Mahmoud Ezzat, Dina Maher, and Omar Khaled, and to describe it in one word, I'll say it's beautiful. Each episode deals with different horrors, like an ancient mummy, mystic beasts, spirits but at the core, it's the demon inside the mind of the central character, Refaat. You are easily sucked into the drama from the first episode, and earlier I thought it to be pure intense horror, but it turns out to be a light horror, which has many horror scenes but fails to scare you, that was disappointing. Refaat is a weird character, his thoughts have been brought to the light, which is a very smart move, you understand him and connect to him easily. His thoughts and feelings are delivered to us as voice-overs, which are sarcastic and witty, and gives you plenty of laughs. He doesn't believe in ghosts but has been in love with a ghost, Shiraz, and always denies saying there's no such thing as ghosts, and always thinks in rational ways even he encounters mythological beasts or a spirit and there's one scene where Raeefa has lit an incense stick, so that the spirit of Shiraz doesn't come near to her son, to which he says "Do they have asthma?".
The scenes in Libya, where he's in search of Siphium, which can cure Howaida's strange illness, that adventure is very exciting but when that beast comes out who's guarding the cave, I felt unsatisfied, because the tribe said that it's not an animal, it's something else, I was expecting something terrifying, even the CGI is not good. But overall, the drama is consistently good and engaging, despite the horror elements don't scare you and remains ineffective, it's the characters where your emotions get attached, Refaat and Maggi sweet romantic chemistry wonderfully fits into this fantastical drama. The last episode is very impactful, and the backstory of Shiraz is heartbreaking.
Ahmed Amin as Refaat, is brilliant, being logical and reasoned, even when he encounters supernatural creatures, is funny as he thinks and does many awkward things, like blasting the cave and unleashing the beast. Razane Jammal as Maggie has looked beautiful and has given a stellar performance and her chemistry with Ahmed Amin is quite adorable. Samma Ibrahim as Raeefa is good but her drama is melodrama and becomes a caricature. Reem Abd El Kader as the creepy girl Shiraz is amazing, at such a young age, she's dominates everyone with her sweet yet creepy aura.
Aya Samaha as Howaida is good but has to work hard on emotional scenes.
The cinematography by Ahmed Beshary is outstanding, he captures not only the beautiful sets flawlessly, but brings the emotions of the characters and their pain effectively on the screen. The production design is of a high order, and the editing could have been crisp, the background music is mesmerizing and that humming melody is hauntingly beautiful.
Paranormal is a solid series, where the characters are the pillars of the show and the dark humor surely dominates the horror element, hence fails to scare. Despite that, it is thoroughly entertaining, with some amazing scenes, Refaat's internal monologues are unmissable and I'm looking forward to the next season, hoping they could elevate the horror factor more.
Rating:- 3.5/5
Now streaming on Netflix.
 - Review : Solid but Need more Horror!!!){kind=link}
0 Comments