The most talked show of this year wasn't so overrated afterall, The Queen's Gambit was not only an amazing show but also an extraordinarily realistic tale about a fictional chess prodigy.

Based on a novel of the same name, The Queen's Gambit is blessed with a wonderful story. Its outstanding production effectively makes use of the compelling story to create such a masterpiece. No matter what genre you like, you'll definitely find The Queen's Gambit an extraordinary show. For me, any show set between the 60s-80s is enjoyable in terms of atmosphere and usually soundtrack. Hopefully both of this check out in this show.

Then comes the amazing cast, I believe what makes a story well portrayed is good choice of supporting actor/actress as well as decent enough choice of side characters(especially in shows) since they will in one way or another deliver important messages which if delivered effectively by the actor, can truly excite the audience. Fortunately in the case of The Queen's Gambit, the side characters are played by excellent actors/actresses who contribute massively to the emotional ride this show gives. Not forgetting Anya Taylor-Joy's unexplainably great performance of course, you'll definitely hear her name more in the future.

Since nearly everything in this Show is near perfect, let's talk about what stands out or was hard achieve at such perfection. I think what felt very different in The Queen's Gambit compared to most movies/shows is how realistic the characteristic and behavior of the side characters were, for example, you couldn't classify group them into good/bad, positive/negative or hero/villian. All of them were humans, acting like humans and doing what humans do in real life. This realistic touch is not only achieved by good cast but most importantly its by the amazing emotional writing and character design/development.

Another thing which also grabbed my attention in this show was that nothing felt forced, there was no character acting ridiculously stupid for a plot twist or forced excitement nor was their any character too good or too bad to be real(which falls back to point one). Furthermore, you don't notice any forced feminism,anti-racism or anything of those sorts either, which in my opinion is great since usually movies/shows which force these messages not only fail to have any significant impact on the viewer, it also ruins the viewer's experience and ruins the whole movie/show.

So yeah, long review but The Queen's Gambit is one of the two(other is Chernobyl) miniseries you must watch before calling yourself a cinephile.

After zipping through this gripping miniseries, I think I have a new favorite Netflix original.

Its star, Anya Taylor-Joy, is quickly becoming a favorite as well, delivering a great performance as Beth Harmon, a genius young chess player struggling with substance abuse and mental and emotional hurdles holding her back from her relationships and from true mastery of the game. She's charming, but also cool and calculated, reserved yet fun when she wants to be, and very beautiful and captivating as the lead in a big period drama like this. Her supporting cast carries their weight well, with lots of faces I've never seen, but many that I won't soon forget. The strange cowboy-esque New Yorker Benny Watts (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and the imposing chess veteran, Soviet world champion Vasily Borgov (Marcin Dorociński) were highlights, both huge parts of what makes the show work and give it some of its biggest emotional moments by the end.

Although chess is played on a tiny board and has intricacies far above the heads of most of the audience, careful editing in terms of pacing and commentary has elevated the game here into an exciting spectator sport, even for beginners. When Taylor-Joy's Beth sits across from the champion Borgov for their various matchups, I felt like I was sitting down to watch the NBA Finals or the Super Bowl. The show does a great job building up its climactic matches by laying out the emotional stakes and showing all the nights of hard work, all the mistakes, all the surprises and reversals, zoomed in at the exact right times to drive it home. It really inspires you to want to learn more about this complex game.

Lastly, I want to draw attention to the setting, not only the beautiful execution of the mid-century time period, but the many locales featured throughout. Although the show starts in small town Kentucky, it quickly escalates as Beth rises from regional tournaments to international ones, and it really gives the show this great feeling of progression as the hotels and dining get more lavish and the characters navigate new waters. With the exception of the section set in the USSR, which I think is perfect, sure, maybe they could have gotten more out of these locations. But I still think they all color their respective episode really well and are exciting to see. This globetrotting focus is balanced well with Beth's time at home in Kentucky and keeps the show dynamic.

I hope more people watch this fantastic show. It's #1 on Netflix right now so looks like they are. I really think it benefits from the miniseries format over being a standard long-form TV drama, getting out just what it needs to with no time to become stale, and no risk of an unresolved cliffhanger ending. Can't wait to see what these people make next!

I was loving this (pretty much) right up until the last episode when a woke deus ex machina suddenly appears in a Corvair to save the day. The cinematography is nice and the story of triumph rolls right along sans all the normal impediments one might expect. The adoptive mother goes right along with our heroes desire to be a chess champ. I never expected that to be so easy for her, and it was a little too convenient that the father left town and never returned.

There ARE a few other implausibilities that annoyed me, like the fact that an 8 year old would become addicted to tranquilizers to the degree that Beth did. Was her mother an addict? That was never even hinted at. People generally don’t develop severe addictions on their own without at least some genetic motivation and you can’t have something that big happen in a film story without explaining it.

And what about all the free time she was allowed playing chess in the basement of the orphanage with the custodian. Also, I’m not sure how ALL the dancing came into it, because young Beth never danced around alone in her room.

And, another thing I don’t fully understand is Beth’s desire to be a chess champion. Sure, she loves playing, but where did the inherent need to be the best chess player on Earth come from? That was never explained at all and I expected it to maybe be motivated by a need to make money since the adoptive father abounded her and the mother, but nope, that didn’t even happen.

When a character is driven to do something, it’s generally because of some deep seated need, but in this film, we never see that need. It’s just there, and that’s lazy writing.