8 Days (2019) Review
What would you do if you only had 8 Days left to live? A meteorite is on a collision course with Earth. The chances to survive in Central Europe: Zero. This colossally ambitious German series explores the answer to this impossible question through the eyes of an ordinary Berlin family living through the last days of mankind as we know it.
Each episode of this eight-parter brings us one day closer to annihilation. The impending catastrophe sets in motion the reorganisation of society as we know it, and the world rapidly sinks into a huge, panicky, chaotic party. Suddenly people can break the speed limit at will, have wild unprotected sex, do all the drugs they want, shop with no money, live without working, love with no consequences – but in the end, the only thing that matters is: What is really important to you in your final days and hours?
As riots break out in the streets, former physics teacher Uli Steiner (Mark Waschke) puts his trust in smugglers to help his family on a life-threatening escape to Russia, but his wife Susanne (Christiane Paul) worries about the safety of their children, Leonie (Lena Klenke) and Jonas (Claude Heinrich). Her brother, emerging politician Hermann (Fabian Hinrichs), has his pregnant wife to look after, while their bitter father Egon (Henry Hübchen) uses these last days to try and make up for old mistakes.
How far would a person go to protect the ones they love? Leonie’s best friend Nora (Luisa-Céline Gaffron) is trapped in a bunker by the violent, paranoid Klaus (Devid Striesow), but could former convict Robin (David Schütter) be a saviour? Not just for her, but for the new religious sect that see him as a Messiah. Or are the real saviours those in law enforcement still trying to do their job, like dedicated policemen Deniz (Murathan Muslu)? With the end of the world nigh, secrets bubble to the surface in the melting pot of Berlin.
Prepare for the end of life as you know it in… 8 DAYS.
8 DAYS has an interesting premise but squanders it on soap-opera dramatics that involve dreary unlikable characters. Because the characters are so unlikely it’s really difficult to care about what happens to them and there’s only so many times that you can watch stupid people doing stupid things before you find yourself mentally switching off during viewing. It’s an easy sell that will attract an audience purely on concept alone but it’ll leave most viewers wanting something better than they are actually getting.