Alice Oscura, Featured Writer
Paranormal is the very first Egyptian horror web series to be released by Netflix. This six-part series is based on the novels of bestselling author Ahmed Khaled Tawfik. He was the first contemporary writer of horror and science fiction in the Arabic-speaking world, and also the first writer to explore the medical thriller genre.
The series timeline is set in the 60s and follows Dr Refaat Ismail (Ahmed Amin) a hematologist who is a self-professed bachelor with a sarcastic attitude. It is structured anthology style with each part eventually inter-connecting. Each episode focuses on a different paranormal phenomenon with the main arc relating to Refaat, his family, and his ex-love Maggie (Razane Jammal), who is recently returned from Scotland. And unfortunately Maggie has one of the worst red curly hair wigs I have ever seen. Refaat is an extremely smart man obsessed with Murphy’s Law, so much so that he has invented his own version called Refaat’s laws in order to explain the strange occurrences around him, since he believes that there is no such thing as the paranormal.
Even though the story development can seem a bit weird at times, there’s something addictive and genuine about the characters, especially the underlying love story between Refaat and Maggie. There’s an extremely touching and romantic poem that Refaat wrote on the back of their only photo taken together. It really makes the heart flutter at the beautiful words. What makes this odd is the fact that Refaat was able to express his love for Maggie in written words so eloquently, but when it comes to saying out loud what he really thinks he never does, and it becomes a recurring theme through the series. Actually, it is Refaat’s internal monologue that adds some dark humor to the story, and it shows how utterly frustrated he is with himself sometimes.
The visuals and landscapes are absolutely stunning. Amin does an excellent job of shouldering the responsibility of portraying one of Egypt’s most beloved and well renowned fictional paranormal heroes. He brings a lot of heart and bitter sarcasm to the character that you can’t help but cheer on this super dysfunctional doctor. He also appears to have a special gift that’s going to end up playing a huge part in a hinted future battle with one hell of an adversary!
Honestly, you are going to be sucked in from Episode One, especially if you are a fan of the strong supernatural and paranormal influences in the series. It’s Egyptian, so you are certain to get at least one cursed, creepy mummy! It’s also English-dubbed, so you don’t’ have to worry if you are not a fan of having to read the subtitles. I enjoyed this one so much that I am hoping that a Season 2 is going to be on Netflix’s cards in the future, because the way that it ends hints to the fact that Refaat has got a packed future ahead of him having garnered fame from dealing with paranormal hauntings.
Overall, even though Paranormal isn’t all out terrifying by all means, it is highly engaging and goes heavier on the psychological aspect from time to time. But that all isn’t to say that you are not going to have to excuse yourself for minute bathroom breaks from some of their jump scares…hint hint. Watching this series makes me definitely want to check out the books to see how much more detailed they might be. It may be something good to do occupy yourself for the upcoming Christmas holidays!
Check it out guys as you will not be disappointed. Hopefully we will soon get some news on whether a Season 2 is in the works.
Alice’s Score: 8.5 out of 10
For Sommer’s Top 5 Reasons to Watch The Haunting of Bly Manor you can click here.
Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump.
I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. You can find me as Dark Alice Reviews on Facebook, my Instagram is alice_oscura and my Twitter handle is @lise_veliz2. For more on me you can click here.