While Archive 81 offers moments of brilliance in its opening episodes, it never finds a sustained voice, and the story slowly gets lost in an ocean of competing ideas and themes. Archive 81 is streaming now on Netflix.
Loosely based on a podcast of the same name, Netflix’s new occult/sci-fi horror is a game of two halves. Here, the first four episodes of Archive 81 are engaging, fresh and decidedly creepy, while the final four disappear down a rabbit hole of the show’s own creation. Archive 81 is undoubtedly at its strongest when embracing the found-footage sub-genre and the slowly unravelling horror of its Rosemary’s Baby-inspired apartment block from hell.
However, Archive 81 quickly dispatches its most significant strengths as it attempts to pay homage to an ever-increasing number of classic horror movies and shows. Here, we find nods toward The Shining, Stranger Things, The Twilight Zone and more, as Archive 81 tries to embody every possible horror and cult movie cliché over its eight-hour runtime. And this brings me to the second major problem for Archive 81: its runtime. While there is plenty here to keep most viewers partially engaged, at least two episodes feel redundant and unneeded.
Archive 81 has moments of brilliance in the atmosphere it creates in the impressive opening four episodes. Equally, its cast, led by Mamoudou Athie and Dina Shihabi, manages to keep the viewer’s attention even when the screenplay begins to wobble and choke on its own mystery and complexity. However, when we compare the show to the bold and beautiful Midnight Mass, it quickly loses its way due to its attempt to be all things to all people. While it offers moments of brilliance in its opening episodes, it never finds a sustained voice, and the story slowly gets lost in an ocean of competing ideas and themes.
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