The Stranded: Season 1 – Netflix Review

THE STRANDED is a new supernatural thriller series on Netflix. It’s a production from Thailand which features a group of high school students stranded on an island after a tsunami. This Netflix series feels very international. Read our Season 1 The Stranded review here!

The Stranded is a new Netflix series from Thailand. It’s a supernatural thriller series about a group of high school students that end up stranded on an island after a tsunami. This wouldn’t be so much of a problem if it wasn’t because they’re still left there a month later. Nobody seems to be coming for them which makes them question what’s going on.

While this new Netflix series is a production from Thailand it feels very international in just about every way. Both in terms of storyline and very diverse characters.

Read more in our season 1 review of The Stranded below.

Diverse and interesting characters

From the very beginning of The Stranded you will probably notice that the characters in this Thai production are as diverse as any production from Europe or North America. We see a gay couple from the very beginning and these two young men are allowed to actually have a loving and caring relationship on screen. That’s still pretty rare in many US productions!

Also, we see both male and female characters demanding respect and being respected. In fact, several female characters are having key roles as both a makeshift doctor and engineer.

Fans of the iconic US series Lost will probably notice some similarities rather quickly. Especially since we also get to see the lives of these characters prior to the tsunami. This was also the case with Lost. Obviously, having this as a plot driver along with people being stranded on an island, makes the comparison pretty easy to make. 

Thai Horror filmmaker Sophon Sakdaphisit

This Thai Netflix series was directed by Sophon Sakdaphisit, who wrote the very interesting horror movie Shutter (2004). If you haven’t watched it, I would definitely recommend checking it out.

It’s a Thai horror movie that feels almost like a Korean horror movie in terms of production quality. Also, it was the biggest box office hit in Thailand in 2004. Of course, this meant that a US remake was bound to happen… and it did. In 2008, Joshua Jackson and Rachael Taylor starred in the Shutter remake.

In other words, Sophon Sakdaphisit is someone who knows how to do horror right. While The Stranded isn’t a horror series as such, it does have elements of horror throughout the storyline in Season 1.

My point is simply: Give this new Netflix series a shot! Yes, it’s from Thailand but the story is very universal.

Watch Season 1 of The Stranded on Netflix now!

Season 1 of The Stranded has 7 episodes that each have a runtime of around 45 minutes. Usually, an episode will end with something quite interesting (often a cliffhanger of sorts), so you’ll probably want to keep watching.

The very end of episode 1 features a moment that is clearly supernatural in ways but up until this moment, the plot seems to simply revolve around a natural disaster. While a tsunami is so wild that it may seem supernatural, it is quite natural and extremely intense.

I didn’t know what to expect from this new Netflix series but it had me hooked rather quickly. Both the characters and plot seems interesting from the very beginning and there should be something for just about everyone. 

The Stranded is out on Netflix with all episodes of Season 1 from November 14, 2019.

Details

Director: Sophon Sakdaphisit
Stars: Papangkorn Lerkchaleampote, Chayanit Chansangavej, Michelle Fang

Plot

Trapped on an island destroyed by a tsunami, the students of an elite school try to hold on to hope. But mysterious forces seem to work against them.