Summary
The tagline for Country Queen, “when home is a battlefield,” sums up the series marvelously.
This review of the Kenyan Netflix series Country Queen season 1 does not contain spoilers.
Returning home can be bliss for some but horrifying for others. In this first-ever Kenyan Netflix original series, there’s plenty of complexity to returning home; far more than what the lead character bargains for.
The lead character Akisa harbors two lives. One life where she masks, another where she has to face past trauma. Embroiled in all this is a tale of two worlds where an invasive mining company threatens the livelihood of a village. Akisa has the difficult task of finding herself in the face of a painful past while saving the village from corrupt capitalism. An unforgiving story with plenty of pain and consequences. This is not a faint-hearted story by any means. It’s coated in anguish and a sobering outlook on life.
Country Queen is grittier than the title suggests; there’s little to be happy about in this world where pleasure is met with an open wound of hurt. The Netflix series places itself as a realistic case study of corruption. Where poorer areas are taken advantage of for a person’s gain. Interestingly, Akisa’s position in this world is contradictory. Returning home brings a notion of aligning values. This is not a simple story to examine at all; observing Akisa, her friends, colleagues, and family means taking note of the moral ambiguity that humans have to face.
From a production perspective, this Kenyan series is good. Country Queen ekes out performances with ease as the cast bombards the screen with natural input. There’s barely a foot put wrong in this. They should be praised for showing up well and bringing such an appealing Kenyan series.
The only criticism I do have is overindulgence. Each chapter feels longer than necessary, with the creators desperate to prove as much context as possible. But sometimes, too much context can be overbearing, and this story does not require much explaining.
However, saying that, Country Queen is a deserving watch and adds to the growing Netflix originals international slate. The tagline for Country Queen, “when home is a battlefield,” sums up the series marvelously.
What did you think of the Kenyan Netflix series Country Queen season 1? comment below.
You can watch this series with a subscription to Netflix.
