Marianne
I usually peruse Rotten Tomatoes for what’s doing well and poorly in terms of new releases, but I saw something strange that caught my eye this morning, the fact that Marianne, a horror series on Netflix, has a perfect 100% in the “popular TV” list.
“A new horror show?” I thought. “I better check that out.” Turns out I already had, judging by the little red “completed” bars on the series’ episodes. Back in 2019. When it came out.
Something weird is going on here where for reasons I cannot explain, Marianne, five years later, is resurging in popularity. There are a number of articles about the show, and they almost all cite the series as being “endorsed by Stephen King” which it was. Five years ago. Here’s what he said:
“If you’re one of those sickos–like me–who enjoys being scared, MARIANNE (Netflix) will do the job. There are glints of humor that give it a STRANGER THINGS vibe. It also has (I say it with all due modesty) a Stephen King vibe.”
Again, this was shortly after the show’s release back in September of 2019, and there’s no indication he’s said anything about the series since. But the quote is being treated like it’s brand new, spawning these articles and somehow, surfacing the show in popularity all this time later. I’ve spent about an hour trying to figure out what’s going on here, and I can’t. But yes, the show has a perfect 100% critic score and a solid 85% audience score. Here’s what it’s about if you were interested in knowing after all this:
“A famous horror writer who is lured back to her hometown discovers that the evil spirit who plagues her dreams is now wreaking havoc in the real world.”
There’s also a trailer if you want to watch that. Five years ago it got a full 2.7 million views:
It’s a French series, and it was actually cancelled by Netflix, as it was not meant to be a miniseries. Here’s the creator, Sam Bodin:
“At the time, I really wanted to do three seasons. The story in my head takes three seasons, three acts for me. Three big chapters,” he told Bloody Disgusting.
I’ll be honest, despite this Stephen King recommendation and these great scores I…don’t actually remember watching it. It didn’t make a very strong impression on me, I guess, albeit it has been five years now. Granted, I watch a lot of horror shows, so some are going to slip through the cracks. But watch it for yourself and see what all the fuss is about.
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