Netflix’s new limited crime series is one of it’s best yet and it’s a story that needs to be heard.
Unbelievable is based on a true story, in fact, its this unbelievable true story about rape. Unbelievable is a new Netflix Original limited crime series which doesn’t shy away from attempting to show you the impact on rape victims from the very moments after the rape has happened. It’s a show that stands up for not just a change in policing but also stands up stories to be represented on our screens.
Unbelievable follows the story of Marie Adler (Kaitlyn Dever), a young woman who contacts the police to inform them that she has been raped. As Marie is questioned over and over again, constantly having flashbacks about the event, her story changes leading to the police to question whether it actually happened. The story also follows two detectives, Duvall (Merritt Wever) and Rasmussen (Toni Collette), whose story is set a few years after Marie’s case but they are investigating similar rape cases.
From its first images you can instantly tell that Unbelievable is a new entry in high-end crime drama. The first episode is a tough hour to watch as you watch the life of Marie Adler slowly but also quickly become torn apart. The show doesn’t hold back when it comes to portraying the emotional effect that rape has on its victims, this is something the show manages to uphold throughout the whole season thanks in part to some very great and emotional acting.
Where I found the series to be at it’s best was when it was dealing with everything available to them. Too many times in crime dramas are cases easily solved by men. Too many times does evidence just miraculously show up or one thing easily pushes the detectives towards another piece of evidence.
Unbelievable can sometimes fall into the trap of everyday procedural crime dramas but it has a big emphasis on its female detectives and the better work they did on this case, the female detectives are able to empathise with the victims in a better capacity than the male detectives and the series really shines a spotlight on this subject. The different types of evidence and how using evidence is also given a spotlight because the series feels more grounded in real detective work. There are moments where you start to realise that sometimes having lots of evidence and details might end up with the detectives still not knowing enough to solve the case.
Unbelievable’s focus on time and when the rapist is going to strike next is sometimes forgotten about. Every now and again a character will mention they are in a rush but it’s eight hours of run time makes the rush disappear most of the time. The only aspect of the show that you are concerned about is how detectives can have so many details yet not be able to find out who the rapist is.
This element of the series give’s Unbelievable a solid foundation that it builds upon and one that presents an interesting argument. Crime dramas are helping modern-day offenders, whether it be rapists, murders or burglars in knowing what not to do. The series even goes as far to mention it, it’s the first time in my knowledge that I’ve heard of a show itself acknowledge that fact and it makes you think about how true it really could be.
Unbelievable is a high-end crime drama. It’s haunting realism with the use of intense and scary flashbacks help you to try to understand the pain the people the show is based on felt at the time and are still feeling now. Unbelievable’s spotlight on the way evidence is gathered, the amazing hard work the two main detectives on the case and their team did, the sudden, everlasting and different affects rape can have on a victim and the way crime TV shows have changed our cultures are all aspects of Unbelievable that make it one of this year’s must-watch TV series.