'1899' no spoilers review: A wonderful headache you'll definitely crave for

We've all been there. That feeling of being on auto-pilot. You can hear the machines whirring and cogs clanking but something doesn't feel right and we press on with things mechanically. A sense of doom and despair is a near constant and a tinge of unknown sadness is always ready to make things worse. Still, you press on.

If you get this, then you'll get what watching '1899' feels like. The latest Netflix series is well worth its place on the most-watched chart.

It's a tale of passengers on a ship which instantly reminds you of the Titanic. But it's not. The ship is sailing from London to New York. The passengers are clad in clothes in keeping with the '1899s'. The collection of these travellers is a smorgasboard. French, Danish, Chinese, Spanish, English and more. The ship is helmed by a crew of Germans. Almost none of these liguistic groups know other languages and still somehow get by communicating with each other. Imagine a Portuguese talking with a Chinese, with neither of them knowing the other's language. Still getting things done.

At the outset, there is a definite sense of something being off. You ofcourse can't put a finger on it. The captain of the ship receives a distress call from another ship long thought lost at sea and its crew dead. Against the wishes of the passengers, the captain decides to take detour to go find the ship in search of survivors.

This decision leads to events that transfix you.

The fact that '1899' has been created by the same people who created 'Dark', the mindbending time travel mishmash, was a sure sign to start with that '1899' was going to be one crazy ride. And the makers have hit the bull's-eye second time in a row.

'1899' has been listed under the genres 'science fiction' and 'supernatural horror'. But in '1899', the horror does not come through the expected, run of the mill stunts but via a steady trickle of despair that is all-pervading. Every character seems to have an agenda, as we realise when their stories gradually unfold. This keeps each one of them on toes and the viewers guessing.

The background score aids and abets intention of the storyline wonderfully. So much so that it may physically disturb you sometimes.

Just like in 'Dark', the story unfolds masterfully while keeping some cards hidden. This is something that takes us through every episode and to the end.

The end. Oh the end!

The omnipresence of OTTs has made it possible for storytellers to handle themes that are complex to understand in one go. We always have the luxury of going back to check something or just to (again) make sense of what the hell has been happening. This is often annoying, but '1899' is a sure addition to list of webseries you wouldn't mind doing the digging for. Watch it!

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE