There's nothing better than having a new box set to binge on. For many Netflix viewers, the Christmas season alone was reason to celebrate, as we saw the release of two fantastic Netflix originals.
First, there was the tense and disturbing horror-thriller Bird Box, starring Sandra Bullock. But at the same time came the intriguing Black Mirror special Bandersnatch, a choose-your-own-adventure style immersive TV experience, set in the 8os, featuring multiple branching paths.
For many people, Bandersnatch was their first experience of FMV games, and it has left people hungry for a similar Groundhog Day kind of show. If you're one of those people, then the upcoming Netflix show Russian Doll will surely satisfy those cravings. Created by Parks and Recreation actress Amy Poehler and Orange is the New Black star Natasha Lyonne, the eight-episode comedy-drama series is due to premiere on February 1, and sounds very intriguing indeed.
The show tells the story of a game designer named Nadia (played by Lyonne) who attends a party at the New York apartment of her artist friend Maxine on her birthday. Things take a turn for the weird when Nadia ends up in some kind of mysterious time loop: dying and reliving the same day over and over and over again, and playing out different consequences in each iteration of the same experience.
Commenting on the show in a recent interview with Broadly, Lyonne stated: "I started thinking about a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' kind of party where you take home each different person from the party. You know? Take them home for the night. I would still end up feeling hollow at the end of it, somehow. I’d still be stuck with myself.
"This idea that we are starving to death with limitless choices but are stuck with our own broken selves until we kind of resolve what it is to have a meaningful life. What does any of it mean?"
She added: "This show is heavily autobiographical. It’s also heavily fictionalized. It’s almost like a superhero version of me, a person I’d like to be. The person my character is at the end of the show is closer to who I am today. Who she is at the beginning of the show is closer to who I was 15 years ago."
In addition to Lyonne, the series also stars Chloe Sevigny, Greta Lee, Yul Vazquez, Elizabeth Ashley, Charlie Barnett, Brendan Sexton III and Rebecca Henderson.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to this mind-bending black comedy; especially since the early reviews have been heaping praise on it. Sounds as though I'm going to have to cancel all my plans this weekend just to give it my full attention.
