Summary
Netflix’s new Italian original fails to put a spell on audiences with a dour love story at its core and a messy approach.
Suffering from an untimely release right on the back of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Season 3, Netflix’s new Italian original Luna Nera, created by Francesca Manieri, Laura Paolucci, and Tiziana Triana, is a handsome attempt at period storytelling that, despite impressive production and a creative team full of women, still fails to put a spell on audiences with a torpid Romeo & Juliet-style doomed love story at its core and only a cursory unpacking of its themes elsewhere.
Set in 17th Century Italy and concerning chiefly the forbidden romance between a woman accused of witchcraft and a blood relative of the group who hunts such women down, there’s a distinct empowering undercurrent here that unfortunately never reaches its potential throughout the six-episode first season. The relatively unique perspectives afforded by the period setting and the central female characters never really amount to much in a messy jumble of characters and subplots and a noticeable lack of chemistry between the leads whose romance is supposed to drive the plot.
A decent opening episode to Luna Nera puts its best foot forward, but the show quickly settles into mundane rhythms of prophecy, ancient cabals, and burgeoning magical powers. Utilitarian writing helps to put this across, but not in a way that feels meaningful or even all that entertaining, and a cursory examination of science’s on-going battle with the religion and the historical mistreatment of women feel supplementary rather than integral.
A second season stands a chance to expand some of the show’s ideas into more workable ones, especially with so much time here devoted to introducing and then juggling multiple elements that ultimately get dropped midway through the story. Time will obviously tell in that regard, but with Luna Nera, Netflix probably doesn’t have a contender for Sabrina’s throne.
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Maybe you should read a bit about the town of Benevento and the walnut tree, in the local dialect the witch is still called ” janara “. This movie brought back childhood memories when elders would warn us children about the legend of the witches that used to dance around the walnut tree on a Saturday night. The movie is well done and yes of course with the due bit of exaggeration but it’s a movie. Thanks.
Game of Thrones never reached its potential in the first season. I think you expect bit too much from one short season despite the face season was very well done and all women were great. Not sure I agree with you jumping to quick judgement of this show. I want to give it a chance.