The Queen's Gambit Mini Series (2020) Review

So this show has been getting rave reviews since it came out and I have now watched The Queen's Gambit and I was looking to see if it lived up to the hype and here is my review for it. The premise of the show sees an orphaned child discover and become a master of Chess but has plenty of issues in her life. 

Main Character

Anya Taylor Joy is a young actress who has already gained a huge reputation and she is amazing on this show and steals the show and is up their for one of the best performances of the year whether that be TV or Film. Beth Harmon is a fascinating character and her drive to succeed makes her a really interesting character and one that you just want to study and see develop and she does a great job of selling that. I can't talk enough about how good she is in this show, I don't care about Chess but she manages to make me really interested by it and get excited for every episode and I can only see huge things in her future and can be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood for years to come. 

Supporting Cast 

This is Anya Taylor Joy's show, she owns it and dominates it but she has a stellar supporting cast around her. Bill Camp plays her Chess teacher and he does a really good job, he mainly takes part in the beginning of the show with her younger self but the scenes are captivating. Seeing this Janitor train this young special girl is interesting and you see how their dynamic shapes the season and shapes the character of Beth Harmon throughout the show. Harry Melling from Harry Potter & Thomas Brodie-Sangster from Game Of Thrones play fellow Chess players and they are great, even though they are rival chess players they aren't portrayed as villains, it is a competitive environment and I love how both of their characters interact with Joy and how it develops. Everyone else does a stellar job, the whole cast are great and excel in their roles and make this a really well acted show. 

Story 

The story is truly fascinating, seeing this young girl excel at chess and from her young time to her becoming at a celebrity is is really interesting. You see how Chess is her addiction and how she looks at the game is different to everybody else, for any competitive person you can understand where she is coming from as she is truly trying to be the best. It gets even more interesting as the show goes on as she becomes more involved with other things and you see how she tries to balance life with Chess and how it becomes more difficult. The show also builds to a truly superb finale that has you on the edge of your seat and keep you interested throughout. 

Script 

The script is great, it does a really good job of taking the Chess jargon and making it pretty easy to understand and actually makes you more interested in Chess as a whole. It also writes its characters really well and make them complex and multi dimensional with a great blend of drama and humour for some really well written characters with a truly superb lead. 

Style  

The style of the show is maybe the most standout thing on this show for how surprising it is, the Chess matches are so intense and captivating, hell I have no idea what is exactly going on but it intrigues me and keeps me invested. The show looks great in terms of its time period and costume design and also the fact that it has 7 well paced episodes really helps and doesn't feel like too much filler, everything feels like it should be there for the development of the main character and the story. 

Overall

Overall, this show truly lives up to the hype and is fantastic, if you are sceptical, don't be, watch this show as quickly as you can you won't regret it. It seems I am giving a few more 10 scores then usual, but this show truly deserves it and will be one of the best for the next few years. 

Rating - 10/10