The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a new show on Prime Video that debuted with all 5 episodes. The show stars Jacob Elordi, Odessa Young,
Ciarán Hinds, Olivia DeJonge, and Heather Mitchell. The plot follows Dorrigo Evans, an army surgeon whose short but forbidden affair with his uncle’s wife sustains and haunts him through his darkest days in a Thai-Burmese prisoner of war camp in WWII.

This show had a considerable amount of hype months before its release when it premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. Since then, it feels like it has been crickets, which is a shame, because this show is great! What caught my attention was seeing that Jacob Elordi was going to be in something war related. That seemed a lot different than what he has done in the past. I am always intrigued to see if an up and coming actor can do something different. Not only does Elordi prove that he is up to any challenge, but he makes a strong and compelling case as to why you should watch this hallowing and terrific show.

At five episodes, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was conceptualized out of being a movie. When you combine all the runtimes together, it comes out roughly 3 hours. In today’s age, it’s hard to produce anything longer than 3 hours that’s deeply dramatic. It feels like films like that are a thing of the past. What they do here is have each episode tell its own story. With each episode not going past 50 minutes, it’s quite easy to get engrossed into this complicated story.

Never in my years of studying and watching film have I ever seen a comeback as grand as Justin Kurzel. Many might not know the name. The director first got more attention for his work on Assassin’s Creed. I was worried he wouldn’t make much afterwards as his work post-Assassin’s Creed seemed much smaller than one would expect. Then, there was last year’s The Order, a terrific movie that I really loved that he directed. What’s crazy is that this show released on Prime Video AND that movie released on Hulu. Now you have no excuse to do a Kurzel double feature. I am thrilled that he is making gripping and human stories that are also thematically rich. I have no doubts he’s going to keep doing great thing s going forward.

To be honest, I didn’t know much about the story going into this. All I knew was that Jacob Elordi was going to be a prisoner of war. For a 5-episode series with each episode not lasting that long, I was concerned with what were getting in the first several episodes as it focuses a lot on a love affair. I did find it strange that this character is essentially having an affair with his aunt when you think about it. I still found the performances to be strong and it was certainly interesting to watch, but I was initially let down as I was expecting more. Then, the last half of the show helps bring what happened in the first half all together.

The second half of the show focuses more on Elordi as a prisoner of war. It’s a tough watch to say the least. Kurzel captures the situation with realism, making you feel what these characters are feeling. As Elordi’s character goes through all of this, it’s east to forgive what he did before with the love affair and everything else he did. The show captures just how brutal war can be and how it mentally scar those who come out of it.

Throughout the show we are also seeing Ciarán Hinds play an older version of Elordi. The similarities between these two men is uncanny. I totally bought that they were playing the exact same character. When the show focuses on Hinds, it is showing the repercussions of his actions. He is at the point where he can no longer keep doing what he’s doing. I actually haven’t seen a show do what this show does in its last few minutes. It’s daring and helps bring the show’s themes together beautifully.

In its five episodes, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Typically, when a show is this short, I can feel underwhelmed due to how much feels rushed. Instead, I felt like this was a 3-hour movie that was cut up to help the pacing and keep viewers engaged. This is how a miniseries should be done. Tell the story that you need by splitting it up into parts. The show also has excellent cinematography, especially in the war zone, and a powerful score that helps heighten the emotion.

Overall, The Narrow Road to the Deep North is an outstanding new show that deserves your attention. It showcases Jacob Elordi doing something different with Ciarán Hinds perfectly transitioning into an older version of the same character. If Justin Kurzel keeps up this momentum, he is going to quickly become one of my favorite working filmmakers. I highly recommend you seek this one out as soon as you can.

VERDICT: 4/5 (Great)