Synopsis: A young heart attack survivor becomes consumed by the mystery surrounding the heart that saved her life. However, the closer she gets to uncovering the truth about her donor's sudden death, the more she starts taking on the characteristics of the deceased — some of which are troublingly sinister.
Review: In the wake of the recent wave of paranoid horror films including HEREDITARY and GET OUT comes the new Netflix series Chambers. Starring Uma Thurman, Tony Goldwyn and newcomer Sivan Alyra Rose, Chambers tries to evoke the same feelings of anxiety and unease as those aforementioned films while still appealing to a young audience. Make no mistake, Chambers is not family friendly material even if it does seem to be aiming for a younger audience. Set in the sun-drenched towns of Arizona and New Mexico, Chambers is a very slow burn tale that provides just enough bizarre and grisly imagery to keep horror fans engaged even if it isn't exactly all that scary.
Chambers, created by Leah Rachel, seems like it would follow in the footsteps of transplant horror films like THE HAND or THE EYE which feature protagonists suffering from connections to the donor who provided them a necessary body part. Instead, there is more of a psychological connection between donor and recipient along with a more sinister and cult-like storyline that weaves in and out of each episode. At the start, Chambers plays like a Freeform teen series about sex and high school politics. But, slowly it begins to change into a drama about grief and survivor's guilt while adding surreal moments that make you question what is really going on.
Of the nine episodes made available for review, I struggle to pinpoint one that really stands out from the rest. The acting here is more subtle than anything, especially from Uma Thurman who gives one of her better recent performances as well as Tony Goldwyn whose grieving father may know more than he lets on. The real scene stealers here are Sivan Alyra Rose and Marcus LaVoi who play transplant patient Sasha and her Uncle Frank. Both have Native American roots which is naturally built into the story, giving this tale a different take than other conventional mainstream horror stories. The fact that these characters are Native American plays into the story but never feels forced but rather gives the story a more realistic feel which deepens the horror elements of the story.
In fact, the trailer for Chambers makes the series look much more like a horror film than it actually is. The story definitely treads the same themes as films like ROSEMARY'S BABY but is structured more along the lines of a traditional mystery. Sasha, driven by visions since her transplant, begins to investigate how Becky died and discovers secret lovers, lying family members, and more red herrings than you can count. It is this side of the series that fails to be more than standard narratives from shows like Pretty Little Liars or Riverdale. The high school drama becomes tedious and really drags the story to a pulpier place than it should. Where it excels is with Nancy Lefevre (Uma Thurman) dealing with bizarre symptoms in the wake of her daughter's death and Ben Lefevre's (Tony Goldwyn) obsession with New Age practices.
In a supporting role, actress Lili Taylor brings a similar tone that Ann Dowd brought to HEREDITARY and serves as a glimpse into the underlying themes of the series. It also helps that the creative team behind the series has some genre recognition, including directors Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN, American Horror Story) and Ti West (THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, THE INNKEEPERS) alongside producer Stephen Gaghan (SYRIANA). The production quality of this series definitely helps as does the eerie score from James S. Levine (American Horror Story).
Chambers is going to disappoint viewers who may feel musled by the trailer and others who will find the pacing incredibly slow. But, that pacing is deliberate as each episode is punctuated by a moment or two of true thrills which kept me coming back to see more. At times, it feels like this could have easily fit into a feature film rather than a full season. If you are willing to give Chambers a chance, it will take until episode six before things really start to get interesting. I am not entirely convinced that many of the subplots are much more than filler, but the main story is intriguing enough that you will likely stick to find out the solution to the entire mystery by season's end.
Chambers premieres April 26th on Netflix.