Chambers Review – Mildly Interesting but Not Groundbreaking

BOTTOM LINE: Mildly interesting but not groundbreaking

Rating: 6.5/10

Platform: Netflix

Genre: Horror

What is the Story about?

The premise of Netflix’s new supernatural show Chambers sounds exciting on paper. It’s centered on a teenage girl, Sasha, (Sivan Alyra Rose) who suffers an unexpected heart attack and almost dies, only to be saved by an unexpected heart transplant. Post surgery, when she returns to her normal life, she is brought into a relationship with her donor’s parents. As she gets drawn into the privileged and alien life of her donor’s family, Sasha starts experiencing strange visions and inexplicable memories which she can’t make sense.

Performances?

The first time I learned about the show, I got excited because it features Uma Thurman. Unfortunately, she isn’t the star of the show and there’s hardly anything that she could do even if she was one. Nevertheless, Rose really carries the show on her shoulders and she’s a dynamic and engaging lead. Even as she gets pushed into ridiculous situations, she makes a strong impact with her performance.

Tony Goldwyn is a standout and his performance does elevate the show in places. However, there’s not much he can do in a show that’s interesting in parts but never shines wholesomely. With such an interesting premise, you expect a groundbreaking pay-off but the show doesn’t deliver.

Analysis

As exciting as the premise sounds, the show suffers from a slow-burning narrative which takes out all the fun of the horror template. There are twists that really grabs one’s attention but the show never pushes us to the edge of the seat. Every time Sasha has visions about her donor and what might have happened to her, you expect something sinister to unfold. But the show relies heavily on cheap scares to really sell itself which is a big downer.

In the beginning, it feels like Chambers wants to be accepted as straight-up horror drama, but the series takes too long to generate the scares and then eventually ends up never being frightening.

Highlights?

Lead performances
Production design
Cinematography

Drawbacks?

Lack of scares
Extremely slow narrative

Will you recommend it?

Wouldn’t harm if you watch it once

Chambers Review by Haricharan Pudipeddi