Image by Ian Lindsay from Pixabay
Roar is a horror anthology series on Apple TV that deals with women’s issues. Each episode is a different scary story that tackles a specific issue. The show deals with subjects like discrimination, sexism, and abuse, to name a few. If you like shows like Black Mirror, you might enjoy this more than I did. Ultimately, while many of the concepts were interesting, I was left with a disappointment that makes it impossible for me to recommend this show.
There are a few technical issues that are hard to ignore with the acting and writing, but ultimately the show’s biggest issues are with the pacing and endings. The endings ruin this show for me. The show does a decent job at setting up an interesting narrative, only to fall flat as it struggles to achieve its empowering and happy ending. As a result, this show becomes very preachy, and the narrative suffers for it. I don’t mind morals of female empowerment, but in Roar, it seems forced and out of place.
Each episode is limited by the same simple formula. A woman encounters an issue that gets personified into some kind of magical and inexplicable presence. The presence can be a disease, a person, or even a monster. The idea is that the issue the protagonist faces is tangible and something they can overcome. There is some solid setup and buildup, but it is all wasted on some ex-Machina. The protagonist will always easily overcome their ordeal, and the episodes will sort of just end. It is very anti-climactic and a waste of some interesting concepts. It also creates an issue with the pacing that I cannot overlook. Halfway through the episodes it feels like there is a sudden rush towards a happy ending.
As is tradition with these types of shows, not all the stories are good. Some stand out, but it is always a gamble on what you are going to get. If you enjoy this type of storytelling, you might have a better time than I did. I would suggest you skip it because none of the stories are good enough to earn a recommendation.
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