"The Black Countess" – Both Cringe and a Cute Series

These are some thoughts after watching the first episode of the new Okko project, starring Kirill Kyaro and Yuri Chursin.

First, there are questions about the filming. At first, all this graininess seems justified by the fact that we are shown a historical production (in reality, a rehearsal of an immersive play for a millionaire), but why it remains later is completely unclear.

Second, the obviously intended contrast between the theatricality of the production and the actual detective story (a real murder occurs right during the performance) is not felt, and everything looks more theatrical, which is not the best solution for a series. The actors play accordingly, so you either try to slap your forehead or openly laugh at how awkward it all looks. And those "erotic" scenes are a whole other story that should be entered into a book of bad advice on how to shoot such erotica.

On the positive side, the idea itself is amusing. Ilya Kulikov and company mixed an immersive play, a closed-room detective in the spirit of Agatha Christie, and added a touch of mysticism in the form of the titular Black Countess. Whether something coherent will come out of this in the end is a big question. If yes, then honor and praise to the screenwriters; if not, well, thanks for the attempt. However, I fear that the described approach to filming will completely kill the desire to give the project a chance to fully reveal itself. After all, spending so much time on the efforts of an amateur circle (that's exactly the association that arises while watching) requires a lot of self-overcoming.