Archive 81 - TV Series Review

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Dan is an archivist who restores old video and cassette tapes. He is contracted to restore a number of tapes damaged in a fire that burned down a block of flats in the 90s. The money is great, and he has no doubt that he can do the job. The catch is that since the tapes are too fragile to be moved, he will need to work out of, and live at, an old abandoned research campus in the middle of a forest.



The tapes gradually tell the story of Melody, a social worker working on a dissertation about the Visser, the building that burned down in 1994. Through Melody's footage of her interviews with the residents, Dan gradually learns about the building's strange history, and parts of Melody's life, which seems to be somehow connected with his own.



Archive 81 is an American supernatural horror series, based on the podcast of the same name. It's very spooky, and blends together horror, mystery and science fiction. It reminded me a little of Broadcast Signal Intrusion , a film which also deals with a mystery involving videotapes, as well as The X-Files. There are so many layers to the mystery that it takes a while to work out what's going on.



Mamoudou Athie (from The Circle and Black Box) is excellent as the haunted Dan, and (from Daredevil and Altered Carbon) Dina Shihabi is convincing as the increasingly desperate Melody. It also features Matt McGorry (from How to Get Away With Murder and Orange is the New Black) as Mark, Dan's loyal, long suffering, best friend.

Archive 81 is a genre blending show that will pull you in and make you want to watch until the end. It was released on Netflix in January 2022.



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