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Kaleidoscope reviews6/11/2023 Now the streaming service has got playful with the form again. In 2021, it adapted RL Stine’s Fear Street cult horror novels into a film trilogy, shot back-to-back and released across three consecutive weeks. In 2019, it won awards for Charlie Brooker’s interactive Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch, where viewers could choose their own adventure. Netflix might have its problems but innovation isn’t one of them. Such a non-linear approach to storytelling is thrillingly bold and risky, if not always entirely successful. Thereafter the subscriber is in control, so can hop around in time to discover characters’ secret pasts and shady motivations, all building towards the revelatory finale. You start with an episode randomly assigned by Netflix. The twist is that you can watch the colour-coded instalments in any order, meaning each viewer has a different experience. Loosely inspired by the true story of $70bn in bonds going missing in downtown Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy a decade ago, Kaleidoscope comprises eight episodes, spanning from 24 years before the heist to six months later. How did the gang plan and finance the raid? Will they get away with it? Can they trust each other? The series weaves a complex web of greed, vengeance and betrayal – and that’s before you even get to the gimmick. Each episode forms a piece of an elaborate jigsaw puzzle. The ambitious anthology drama follows a crew of professional thieves as they attempt to crack a seemingly impregnable underground vault for a multi-billion dollar payday. It's a little like someone with severe concussion telling you about their accident. Ever watched a series in the wrong order by accident and found it a distinctly discombobulating experience? Well, with mind-bending crime caper Kaleidoscope (Netflix), you’re encouraged to do exactly that.
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