On first impressions alone, Netflix’s new original series Unorthodox doesn’t follow the streaming giant’s basic formula we’ve all come to know and love. It isn’t a true crime series or documentary and it isn’t a romcom of any sort. It’s completely different, and viewers have fallen in love with it. If you’re looking for more brilliant content to completely and utterly binge in isolation, you might want to give Unorthodox a go.
Based on the New York Times bestselling memoir of the same name by Deborah Feldman, Unorthodox is a story about a girl who rejects her radicalised upbringing in New York and leaves to start a new life in Berlin. It’s described as one part coming of age story and one part thriller, as we watch a girl discover all parts of life, of herself and as she follows the dark trails to uncover the dangerous mysteries of her family’s past.
Unorthodox premiered on Netflix late March, so there’s been plenty of time for people to get around it. And they have.
https://twitter.com/Thenightdances2/status/1252744285105127425
If you want to read the memoir, you can find it online right here.
I just watched #UnorthodoxNetflix
It is amazing… I highly recommend it.
A remarkable cast… especially #ShiraHaas, #AmitRahav & #JeffWilbuschThe scene at the end between Esty & Yanky is one of the most powerful scenes I have experienced in years. pic.twitter.com/xhE5hCPGlE
— Billy Baldwin (@BillyBaldwin) April 23, 2020
Unorthodox on Netflix made me cry (more than once) at 4 in the morning, if you’re reading this then I’m assigning it as homework
— sarah isen (@Sarah_Isen) April 21, 2020
Just finished watching #Unorthodox on @netflix. Again, just a gorgeous series, beautifully crafted by supremely talented people. A masterclass in #filmmaking that also starts an important conversation about the fear & control wielded by insular, high control groups. Bravo! 👏
— Lloyd Evans (@cedarsjwsurvey) April 26, 2020
y’all unorthodox on netflix is INCREDIBLE pic.twitter.com/8wM2Ui1iCy
— tal (@liljewess) April 27, 2020
Oh my goodness, just finished watching “Unorthodox” on Netflix, gobsmackingly good.
— Dr Sheep Person Podge (@noplaceforsheep) April 23, 2020
Omg #UnorthodoxNetflix is SO AMAZING! I can tell this will be an emotional ride!! Who else is watching?
— Chloe (@ChloeMorello) April 26, 2020
The limited series is only four one-hour episodes long. Netflix has also uploaded a 21-minute behind-the-series documentary called Making Unorthodox. Series aside, Feldman has penned a number of essays and articles over the years about growing up in the “black-and-white section of Brooklyn, New York”.“Bright colours were the work of the devil”, in case you were wondering. Most recently, Feldman did a Q&A with the New York Times, which is a great read post-viewing.
Unorthodox is streaming now on Netflix.
I’d talk about the series more, but I feel like the trailer is more than enough to convince you to binge it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zVhRId0BTw
P.S. It has a metascore of 85 on metacritic, based on 11 critic reviews.
