It's not hard to imagine A Billion to One's creator Marty Shea once upon a time quick-pitching his series concept to a stunned but enthralled silence of investors: "Rumors have leaked over the Internet that American multi-billionaire Leo Richter is dying and looking for a single person to inherit his massive $82 billion fortune." Simple, specific, intriguing, and it lends itself to a storytelling engine in which the wheel doesn't need to be reinvented with every new episode. Sold!
Now here on screen, we see that idea expertly brought to fruition. A Billion to One lives up to its conceptual possibilities by exhibiting all the markings of the kind of episodic storytelling that sucks us in and demands its own binge-consumption. The actors demonstrate a haunted inwardness that perfectly suits this mysterious underworld. Drama and gravitas is built with spellbinding music that makes no effort to hide itself in the mix. And the choices made in the cinematography are seamless, and reflective of the sparse but elegant needs of these often dream-like scenes.
Because we all long for comparisons, A Billion to One evokes an early X-Files, yet with a distinctively European flair. There's a quietness to much of it that naturally evokes intrigue; a gorgeous use of space and a commitment to bare-bones dialogue that wonderfully serves the story. This is one to watch now, and into the future as it evolves.
Now here on screen, we see that idea expertly brought to fruition. A Billion to One lives up to its conceptual possibilities by exhibiting all the markings of the kind of episodic storytelling that sucks us in and demands its own binge-consumption. The actors demonstrate a haunted inwardness that perfectly suits this mysterious underworld. Drama and gravitas is built with spellbinding music that makes no effort to hide itself in the mix. And the choices made in the cinematography are seamless, and reflective of the sparse but elegant needs of these often dream-like scenes.
Because we all long for comparisons, A Billion to One evokes an early X-Files, yet with a distinctively European flair. There's a quietness to much of it that naturally evokes intrigue; a gorgeous use of space and a commitment to bare-bones dialogue that wonderfully serves the story. This is one to watch now, and into the future as it evolves.