High Water follows hydrologist Jasmina Tremer, as she tries to help Wrocław, which is about to face the most destructive flood in the history of Poland. The series is now available to stream on Netflix.
Story
On May 25, 1997, the local government of Wrocław ignores a warning from hydrologist Jasmina Tremer about a flood that is on its way to the city.
Six weeks later, when Tremer’s predictions turn out to be true, they invite her to join a team of scientists and government officials who are preparing to tackle the situation.
Tremer comes up with a solution of blowing up a flood bank that may cost the people of a village their homes, but it could save the city.
A media leak about this decision enrages the people living in that village as they stand up against the government, leaving them no option but to back out and prepare for a flood that is about to wreak havoc on Wrocław.
Performances
Agnieszka Zulewska as Jasmina Tremer comes out as strong lead for the series. Even her character comes out as quite different from most natural disaster drama films and shows where the lead is trying to do the right thing.
Unlike them, Zulewska’s character doesn’t care about the decision government takes.
Tomasz Schuchardt as Jakub Marczak also comes up with compelling performance and is a pretty likable character, though he is also locking horns with the lead.
The rest of the cast mostly follows the same characters audiences are used to watching in natural disaster films. The ones that don’t add anything new to the plot.
Postives
The creators of High Water have done a great job of piecing the story properly that keeps the viewers interested.
It doesn’t dive quickly into the disaster part of the series; rather, it takes its own time and pace.
Certainly, there was a lot going on before the calamity hits, and there is a good amount of tension the show creates during that time. The personal struggles of characters created around this premise are also handled decently.
Negative
High Water works well for the first half of the series until the calamity hits. After that, it kind of struggles as there is no goal for the main plot.
Furthermore, the way the flood is portrayed, it’s not effective enough to create fear in a viewer’s mind. The characters, on the other hand, only had a job to survive and fix things for each other after the first half.
Verdict
If you are in for a good drama handled around a natural disaster without a particular goal or conclusion towards the end, then, High Water is a thrilling watch for sure to revisit the 1997 floods of Poland.
High Water
Director: Jan Holoubek, Bartlomiej Ignaciuk
Date Created: 2022-10-05 12:30
3.5
Also Read: High Water ending explained: How people of Wrocław survived the flood?