The Rain review: Netflix's Danish series sticks too faithfully to the post-apocalyptic story rulebook

Netflix’s latest original series from Denmark, The Rain, remains a notch or two away from being binge-worthy — the annoying term that threatens to classify storytelling under the generic umbrella of consumable content. There will indeed be a sizable chunk of viewers who will be put off by the laboured first episode. But if you resolve to give the following episodes a chance, you’d be treated to commendably produced if standard piece of storytelling where characters appear to crawl from one narrative checkpoint to another at the whims of a writing team who’ve taken the post-apocalyptic film and television rulebook to heart. The young characters seem to be plucked from cinema instead of real life. But the earnestness with which they are portrayed by the cast coupled with the show’s intriguing premise make it well worth a watch. During a particularly promising day at school, Simone is unceremoniously whisked away by her father, a scientist at Apollon, a powerful company. Along with her mother and little brother, Rasmus, Simone is driven to an underground bunker that seems to be stocked with supplies for a long period. Her father leaves to attend to an emergency, bestowing upon her the responsibility for her brother, whom he calls ’the key to everything’. When she witnesses her mother’s death during a freak accident, Simone realises that there is something toxic in the falling rain and that Rasmus and she may have to remain in the bunker for the long haul. She gradually learns that the world has come apart, people have been infected by a deadly virus carried by the rain, and that she and Rasmus will have to fend for themselves. Until one day when a group of youngsters come to Simone’s bunker scrounging for food — and an adventure to survive, find her father, and make sense of a fallen world begins. [caption id=“attachment_4466781” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Poster for Netflix’s The Rain[/caption] Simone and Rasmus travel with this new group — Martin (its leader, with a steely exterior and resolve), Beatrice, Lea, Patrick and Jean — across forest and city, meadow and tunnel, scrounging for food and chasing a wisp of hope. They walk on amidst the danger of running into The Strangers, a militia that is out to eliminate anybody who appears infected by the virus. What follows is a narrative lacking welcome surprises or inventive storytelling. The story stays stubbornly derivative, peddling cliched scenarios that hint at a possibility of the sinister lurking beneath the mundane. As expected, the majority of the dramatic interest lies in the group’s dynamics, which begins to feel the push and pull of the new entrants, Simone and Rasmus. Old relationships yield to the new, jealousy and mistrust creep into view. We also witness the gradual coming of age of our young heroine, who combines pragmatism with boundless empathy to soften the sharp edges of Martin’s character. In sum, The Rain checks all the boxes with the passion of a genre devotee. To its credit, the show does that part ably, combining it with a brooding atmosphere and commendable production values. The performances, particularly Simone and Martin’s, go a long way in keeping the audience involved with the show. Martin plays a pragmatic leader who, with the arrival of Simone, is presented with a far more empathetic way of handling situations, therefore leading him to question his style of leadership. Simone, meanwhile, grows in stature within the group, discovers her leadership abilities, often the hard way, and provides the audience with a heroine to root for, one that prefers to stay true to her character instead of pandering to generic taste. For the first few episodes, Beatrice promises to shape up into a wonderfully enigmatic character, which, at least to this reviewer, appeared almost revelatory. However, she is soon discarded in the banal manner typical to genre, and not before being reduced to a shadow of her formerly intriguing self. That, in essence, is the major complaint with the show: its stern refusal to taking risks and becoming much more than the rulebook would want it to be. For a story that is religiously tied to its genre roots, The Rain could have benefited from an intrepid approach to working within its genre tropes. A second season, hinted at by the end of the last episode, should ideally offer more challenging storytelling for its audience, because it has already established its characters well enough. Once the characters begin to drive the narrative instead of it being the other way round, the show will definitely find it easier to make the audience root for its cast. Currently, The Rain is a good, watchable show. It shouldn’t stay merely that. The Rain is currently streaming on Netflix. Watch the trailer here: