Paranormal (2020) - Netflix's Egyptian Horror Series

Paranormal (2020) is an Egyptian horror series, available on Netflix. Although the programme was originally filmed in Arabic, Netflix has dubbed versions in multiple languages, including English. The programme is based on a series of novels written by Dr. Ahmed Khaled Tawfik.

Straight thinking hematologist, Dr. Refaat Ismail is forced to change his beliefs when a series of supernatural events begin to occur. Despite rejecting all signs of the paranormal, he must broaden his mind in order to protect himself and his loved ones.

After watching the first episode of the programme, I was impressed. I was excited to learn in depth about the story of Shiraz, an adorable but unsettling girl. Unfortunately, in the next couple of episodes I came to realise that the whole series wouldn't revolve solely around Shiraz, but would have different supernatural beings and challenges in each episode. Although her story continues throughout the show, we don't see Shiraz as much as I had hoped and anticipated.

Although this was a little disappointing, the programme was still pretty enjoyable. I feel that it was unique by having an older man as the main character, but I felt impartial towards Refaat (Ahmed Amin). I neither routed for him or disliked him, I simply watched his story unfold.

A character I didn't appreciate was Maggie, played by Razane Jammal. She was rather dislikable. I feel that so many women in film and television are portrayed as such irritating characters. She was so whiney, and 90% of her dialogue was shouting Refaat's name. I would imagine her character was supposed to be powerful, a professional woman in science who was willing to do dangerous tasks. However she was just irritating. I also thought she was supposed to be from Egypt but her dubbed voice was Scottish...and for some reason she had a horrible ginger wig plonked on her head - it was disappointing.

However, I found the cinematography pleasant. I thought the narrative dialogue from Refaat was a good choice. The locations were diverse and interesting. The costume was nice too. It just lacked some qualities and I feel the "vibe" of the programme wasn't consistent throughout.

Overall I probably wouldn't recommend the show. If someone said they were interested in watching, I wouldn't steer them away. Though I do believe that if the whole six episodes would have followed the story of Shiraz, it would have been a much more exciting, scary and enjoyable watch.