Netflix is letting everyone unwrap an early Christmas present on Friday: an eight-episode series that has remained a virtual mystery. Time notes The OA—starring Brit Marling as a young woman who comes back to her family after vanishing seven years earlier—looks like it's going to meld "science fiction, mystery, and horror," but beyond that basic plot point, not much else is known about the show. The magazine says it may "scratch the itch" of fans of Stranger Things and Westworld while those shows are on break. Netflix's sparse description labels it a "powerful, mind-bending tale about identity, human connection, and the borders between life and death." More reaction from online:
- The Huffington Post tries to cull clues from social media, including Netflix's US Twitter account—cryptic tweets such as "Have you seen death?" are among the possible tells—the show's Facebook page, and the series' Instagram photos, which so far reveal a woman with a bloody nose, people hooked up to intricate-looking machinery, and messages like "Who did this to you?," among others.
- NME takes the Stranger Things comparison further, wondering if The OA is "part of the same universe" and comparing some of the new show's imagery to that of the former—even speculating that Marling's character could be an adult Eleven.
- Vanity Fair details the show's major players, including Marling and director Zal Batmanglij, who worked together on the movies The East and The Sound of My Voice. The show's Netflix page also mentions appearances from Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies) and Brooklyn's Emory Cohen.
- The series' official trailer, which Time notes was released just this week as "a show of faith that this new offering doesn't need much hype to hook audiences."
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