KALEIDOSCOPE SERIES REVIEW

The Heist genre has given us some classic films: Heat, Inception, Ocean’s 11, to name a few. The tropes are similar if not the same for every one of these stories. A ragtag group of criminals is brought together by the old pro looking to pull off one last job that will set them all up for life. We get deception, disguises, acrobatics, car chases, betrayal, and the elaborate planning that inevitably goes wrong on the day. And typically, we see this all through the perspective of the criminals themselves, presented as our heroes and usually far more developed than the opposition, or at least more colorful, which is quite punny considering the newest entry in the heist genre Netflix’s Kaleidoscope, an 8-part mini-series. The show centers Ray (Giancarlo Esposito) putting together a crew of crooks and connives to target one of the richest men in New York (Rufus Sewell) to execute the largest heist ever attempted. The show moves back and forth through time and shows us the vengeance, scheming, loyalties, and betrayals that surround the Big Job. Each episode is titled after a different color: Black, Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange, Violet, Pink, and White. And here’s the gimmick. All eight episodes can be watched in any order; with Black as a brief intro explaining the show’s concept, and the episode White always placed as the series finale, giving 5040 possible ways in which the episodes can be watched. And here to guide you through the twisted tale of thievery and deception is Kimberly, Bradly, Mindy, and T.C. But who of the Squad can be trusted? Who among these four have their own plan in mind?

WATCH HERE

CREATED BY: Eric Garcia

STARRING: Giancarlo Esposito, Rufus Sewell, Paz Vega, Rosaline Elbay, Jai Courtney, Tati Gabrielle, Austin Elle Fisher, Peter Mark Kendall, Jordan Mendoza, Hemky Madera, Soojeong Son, John Hans Tester, Niousha Noor, Bubba Weiler, Patch Darragh, Richard Masur, Tina Benko, Robinne Lee, Max Casella, Craig Walker

 

YOUR REVIEWERS

 

T.C. De Witt (Screener Squad)

T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally in Sydney and Poland. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners. His films have screened internationally, and his stageplays have been performed across the country. In the last ten years, he has directed 57 films, 23 episodes of his series The One Minute Rewatch, 300+ episodes of podcasts, and his multi-award-winning short film Screen: Righter screened at the Festival de Cannes in 2016. He has released two feature films, The Princess Knight and A Christmas Sunset. He thrives on collaboration and the thrill of sharing stories in all forms.

 

 

Kimberly Brown (Highly Suspect Reviews)

Kimberly wants to live in a world filled with blue telephone boxes, speedsters, and ice dragons but through an ironic twist of fate, she’s stuck in this reality where these wondrous things only exist on page or film. Kim’s perpetual desire to consume sci-fi and fantasy media as a teen led her to the study of illustration/design at university to better understand its creation. Currently an Austin transplant, when she’s not wearing her critic hat you can find her pretending to like hiking, fielding questions about her hair or maybe even enjoying a local brew at the nearest dive bar.