Important Fact:
Release Dates : 7 September, 2023
Genre : Horror, Drama ,Mystery, Thriller, TV Series
Language: English
OTT Platform: Netflix
No. of seasons : 1
No. of episodes: 6
Dear Child Ratings & Review:
- latestmoviesreview Rating : (2.7/5)
- IMDb Rating : (7.5/10)
Written By : Isabel Kleefeld, Julian Pörksen
Directed By : Isabel Kleefeld, Julian Pörksen
Cinematography By : Martin Langer
Music By : Juan Luqui, Gustavo Santaolalla
Star Cast : Kim Riedle, Naila Schuberth, Julika Jenkins
- Critics’ Reviews
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“‘Dear Child’ presents its audience with a confounding puzzle and fragmented perspectives, but in a way that draws viewers in instead of ticking them off, which happens less often than you might think.”– Joel Keller: Decider
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“Fans of psychological thrillers will be well-served here. The general premise might be familiar, but it goes in some surprising directions (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)”– Jonathon Wilson: Ready Steady Cut
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“This series manages to make your skin crawl while drawing you deeper into its mystery that captivates with an enthralling narrative and keeps you constantly on edge”– Stephanie Morgan: Common Sense Media
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“A superb example of a slow-burning mystery thriller. It’s grim, tackles serious subject matter, centres around an appalling crime — and it does it well. (…) Rating: ★★★★★★★★½ (out of 10)”– Rati Pednekar: The Review Geek
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“A heartbreaking and brutal crime, mystery, and thriller series. (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)”– Karina Adelgaard: Heaven of Horror
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Synopsis :
In a heavily guarded home, Lena lives completely alone with her two kids, Hannah and Jonathan. At the appointed times, they eat, use the restroom, and go to bed. They form a line to raise their hands as soon as he enters the room. They follow everything he commands. till the young lady is able to get away. Hannah goes with her to the hospital after a near-fatal vehicle accident. But when Lena’s parents show up at the hospital that night, the whole scope of this nightmare becomes apparent. For nearly 13 years, they have been frantically looking for their daughter who has vanished.
Episodes List & Info:
Episode 1: Hannah
After a woman is hit by a car and hospitalized, authorities try to make sense of puzzling information from the young girl who was with her.
Episode 2: Grandfather
Gerd meets the mysterious patient. Hannah moves to a new home. Aida’s investigation of the accident site leads to a breakthrough.
Episode 3: The House
A search yields disturbing discoveries while Gerd begins to realize that the full truth of Lena Beck’s disappearance is darker than anyone imagined.
Episode 4: Rules
Gruesome new evidence from the forest surrounding the military site changes the scope of the investigation. Jasmin fights to regain her independence.
Episode 5: Gifts
Jasmin realizes she’s not alone. Gerd follows a hunch about Hannah while Matthias forges ahead with a plan to bring her home. Aida pursues a lead.
Episode 6: For Lena
As the pieces of a grim puzzle finally click into place, Gerd and Aida race to prevent history from repeating itself. Hannah makes a special request.
DEAR CHILD: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: As he moves outside, a man counts his steps. Within, a mother and two children are playing.
The Gist: The entrance is closed from the outside, so when the man who is counting his steps enters the house, everyone lines up and extends their hands to him. The kid and girl both have pristine hands and fingers. The woman displays a burn on her palm while trembling in fright.
Later, we see the mom and the girl in nightgowns going through the forest. A thud is heard off-screen, and a car hits the woman before speeding off. In the ambulance, the mother’s pulse rate increases, perhaps out of dread, as the girl named Hannah (Naila Schuberth) says her mother’s name is Lena (Kim Riedle). Hannah also confidently informs the EMTs that her mother has an AB-negative blood type. Christopher, Lena’s son (Sammy Schrein), is still at home.
Hannah is being watched by a nurse at the hospital while Lena undergoes surgery. Hannah discusses all of the peculiar regulations that her mother and she must follow at home. Lena was put at danger during the surgery because Hannah provided inaccurate blood type information, and while she was under anesthesia, Lena had thoughts that suggested it would be best if she let go and took a break from the nightmare she was suffering. In the end, she survives, but she also loses her spleen.
Lena and Hannah are interrogated by Aida Kurt (Haley Louise Jones), the investigator looking into the hit-and-run. Aida enters the room and decides she can relate to Hannah when she begins speaking with the hospital therapist. Hannah wants the nurse to return and gives mostly strange and cryptic answers. However, she also depicts the room with no windows and darkness where Christopher is still present.
In the meantime, Matthias and Karin Beck (Justus von Dohnányi, Julika Jenkins), Lena’s parents, are contacted by Gerd Bühling (Hans Löw), a CID agent who was charged with investigating the case of a missing girl named Lena Beck 13 years prior. Though he advises them to hold off until he conducts further investigation, he believes that the woman in the hospital could very well be their Lena. Lena is recovering in the hospital, and Aida is trying to figure out what Hannah and Lena were fleeing from when the Becks decide to ignore that and make the drive in the middle of the night.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Dear Child (Original title: Liebes Kind) has the creepiness factor of a show like The Missing.
Our Take: The storyline of Dear Child, which is based on the Romy Hausmann book, asks the viewer to piece together what happened to Aida, Gerd, Lena, and Hannah. Director and author Isabel Kleefeld adapted the book by dissecting it and presenting each character’s point of view in advance.
In the first episode, Hannah’s perspective on their life is primarily what we hear. And since it’s so disjointed and odd, it’s both interesting and annoying at the same time. We don’t know who it is that has trapped Lena for so long and compelled her to bear her two children. Hannah is 13 years old, thus the horrors of Lena’s captivity began as soon as she was seized.
Because it compels viewers to think like the characters in the story who are attempting to figure out what happened, the fragmented storytelling technique is effective. Naila Schuberth’s portrayal of the precocious Hannah draws us into her world, one in which she always extends her hands to adults when they enter a room and in which some of the weird and frightening events that happened were commonplace to her.
We’re unsure of how the Becks and Gerd will play a role. Quite obviously, the Lena in the hospital is the same Lena Beck who vanished 13 years ago. The Becks, though, appear to be in some denial that their daughter is now the hurt thirtysomething lady in that hospital bed based on how the first episode concludes. It begs the issue of what, specifically, were the events leading up to Lena’s disappearance. She was what age when she vanished? And was the unidentified guy who kept her hidden the one who actually kidnapped her?
Again, rather than being genuine, naturally occurring mysteries, they are queries that in some presentations seem to be withheld from the audience. But given the storytelling technique used here, it doesn’t feel like those mysteries are being withheld on purpose. We only hope they result in plot twists that make sense rather than a lot of red herrings.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: Karin sees Hannah and yells Lena’s name as Matthias furiously exits Lena’s room, alleging that the woman there is not their daughter. Right, that seems to be impossible. While Lena is unconscious and “lying like a dead lump of meat,” we can hear her speaking over the audio and hearing that she can hear everything. You are aware of what he did to me, Lena.
Sleeper Star: Haley With Gerd’s assistance, Louise Jones’ Aida Kurt character will probably be the one who puts everything together. She’s a really good investigator, as evidenced by the way she interrogates Hannah.
Most Pilot-y Line: As if it were real, the nurse informs Aida that Hannah offered her last name as “Goliath,” and she adds that Hannah said she chose the name herself. It seems that a different perspective on that line was necessary.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Dear Child offers a perplexing conundrum and disjointed viewpoints to its audience, but does so in a way that draws viewers in rather than offending them, which happens less frequently than you might expect.