The Luminaries Mini Series (2020) Review

This show hit BBC last Sunday and after a long slog I have now finished The Luminaries and here is my review for the mini series. The premise of the show is set in the midst of New Zealands Gold Rush, a man and woman arrive and end up having their lives linked in a magical way. 

Main Character

Despite the advertising, Eva Green is not the main character here, that goes to Eve Hawson and the best I will say is she is functional. She has some moments of emotion and through some of the actions that take place you do feel some sympathy for her though it does feel forced at times. My issue is just that she is really dull and boring here, there is very little energy to her performance and she isn't charming enough for a lead performance to truly make you invested in her or the character. 

Supporting Characters

Himesh Patel is an up and coming actor and he is also functional here, he is just a good actor and no matter the content he is given here he tries to rise above it. But he just isn't an interesting character and honestly the show never gives you a good reason to care or have sympathy for her. It also doesn't help that I didn't believe in their chemistry together and really felt forced here. As mentioned Eva Green is here and she is good here, it is nowhere near her best work but she shows her star power and is the most charismatic actor here. But then again, her character has very little to get you interested and it feels like a bit of a waste of a fine actress. Marton Csokas & Callan Mulvey have good roles here and do well for the roles that they are given. Though there are way too many characters here and most of them have very little character development here. 

Story

The story isn't well delivered at all, I get that this show is based on a book but I assume it is better conveyed in the pages of the book. The connection between Hawson and Patel had an interesting premise but fails to deliver due to the storytelling. The show also delves in different timelines and it doesn't always do this well, plus the ending is generic and feels like it doesn't hit the mark that it wants. It is funny though that this show has so much going on that the last episode has a character run through everything that has happened which feels really forced. 

Script 

For me the script isn't particularly interesting. There are no really memorable moments, it is a dark show and lacks any humour to help make the characters feel more real and more complex. Plus the drama is dull and doesn't do a good job in it's execution. 

Style

A positive thing for this show is that the setting of New Zealand is really nice to look at. It sucks you into it's world and does a good job of dragging you in, also I enjoyed the layout of the final episode and I wish this show had more episodes like that. But this show is so slow and boring, it has 6 hour long episodes and it feels like this show could have achieved the same with half the episodes for sure. 

Overall

Overall, this is a show with potential but it really fails to execute it and I don't feel like this is worth spending your time on and I would avoid it. 

Rating - 3/10