Vortex (TV Mini Series 2022) Poster

(2022)

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8/10
Really good!
Smarmelade30 June 2023
Synopsis on IMDB is lackluster.

Plot is actually far simpler yet engaging and very interesting.

Besides main character trying to keep his wife alive 27 years in the past there are also ramifications of her being alive.

Unspilling the milk is very hard to tackle in movies and shows with any time travel elements, unless - like here - is not the main point of the show, but one of the sideplots.

Actors are very good, very convincing. Age makup is so-so, main guy looks perfect, his partner not so.

If you want simple, yet thrilling mystery and race against the time, I can really recommend this show.
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7/10
Good Mini Series! It Worth the time
brunocmonteiro14 June 2023
Very nice TV show with just 6 episodes that, if you have the time, worth the shot.

It is sci fi but nothing too flashy or exagerated. There is some "new tech" and some time travelling/vortex, something that Im particularly fan of.

The caracthers are well developed and the pace of the show is quite nice too.

Despite I guessed who is the killer (thats something that, unfourtunately, is happing many times with me when Im watching a mistery movie/tv show) the plot is well written.

Furthermore you will find some good actors that composes a diversified cast, some of them well known, even if you are not particularly an expert in french cinema or tv.
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8/10
Perfect - if you are able to forgive the 4 minor glitches
GaborTakacs7213 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Fascinating series. There's nothing more to say. Perfect storyline, plot, dramaturgy, acting and technical execution. (Yes, I saw the green screen flaw at the beach, and even with that it's perfect.) Emphasizes well the important things in life, like the consequenses of our acts, the importance of human relations, etc. Exciting and touching at once. Brilliant.

Now about the minor glitches.

(1) Yeah, I know, how can VR glasses jump in time. Just a simple conversation could fix this: Ludo: How can this happen?

Agathe: You know, since they make even watches with quantum computers for years, noone knows for sure what's happening really inside these gadgets. My generation even considers smartphones a miracle....

Or something similar. :)

--- Warning! Spoiler below! ---

(2) Why the hell Mel had to escape, and to go to prison for so long years if the shot could be easily set up (and even morally acceptable) as self-defense? If she wanted to pay the price for the murder as a penitence, then Ludo should not have to give her up. It remains a real question, and contradiction, some explanation is really missing from someone.

Too bad.

(3) Agathe was a really strong and amazingly misterious character, she gave me the chills. I really missed some secret phone call from her at the end to some guy (who's face can not be seen), like this:
  • It happened again.


:)

(4) Some change in the past produces much more differences in the future, but okay, to keep the story going and understandable, the moderate change of events were a must. Not to mention that huge changes would have skyrocketed the production cost, so this one is absolutely forgivable of all.
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10/10
A surprisingly good take on time travel
petergitau-264853 January 2023
The show was surprisingly good and did exceed my expectations. I did not expect to be binge through all the episodes available this fast (for those in France, the episodes are accessible on the France TV online platform, otherwise the series can be viewed on mondays evenings i think)

The story was itself was gripping, the stakes were high and the actors were very good in portraying their dilemmas. Camille Claris' performance was especially breathtaking - her embodiment of pain, anguish and terror throughout the series felt very real and unforced (then again she is trying to cheat fate and prevent her own death!).

And that ending was chef's kiss. Hope this gets a second season, but if not the conclusion to this was a satisfying one.

Some issues remain on how the VR time "jumping" works, but then again this is a work of fiction and should be enjoyed as such. Overall great job !
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10/10
WOW! What a great storyline!!
True_Reviews12 July 2023
I gave this series a 10 because the storyline just blew me away. Wow! Talk about creative. It combines virtual reality with reality of the past. As the story progresses things that change in the past have significant consequences in the futures. The acting is really first-rate and the series is one that you will want to binge watch, it is that good. It has a lot of interesting characters and while serious can be very humorous at times. You will be hard pressed to find a more interesting story than this. Whether you are a Sci-Fi fan or looking for a drama, this is one show that will hold your interest. Well worth watching.
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7/10
Kept you watching
frdnkm27 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Good series. Interesting and unpredictable. Kept wanting to watch the next episode. The only disadvantage was all the swearing. So many F words was such a shame and needless. There was also an explicit sex scene, only one, but didn't need it. At least you have the option to skip over the sex scene. The acting was good. The storyline was a bit disappointing in a few instances when Mel knew she was dying and only had to stay away from where she was killed to prevent the same fate, but frustratingly followed the same footsteps. The end was ok, but I would have liked to have seen how they got to where they were in the 27 years between.
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10/10
The serie is perfect !
valentinbertrand26 January 2023
A window to the past magically opens, and a police commander sees an opportunity to save his wife who died a few days before her accident.

Thanks to the appearance of this "Vortex", he interacts with her to change history, even if it means facing unexpected consequences.

The actors are persuasives and we face human situations that lead us to reflect on several questions: can we change the course of history ? Is this right ? Is this moral? Should we do it?

The characters are touching, moving and their story complex, we quickly get attached to them and we wonder at the end of an episode what will be the next one.

I highly recommend it to science fiction fans !
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7/10
Excellent filming and acting but weakest scenario
sakin14 November 2023
It can be very entertaining if you don't get really into it . If you do get engaged you will be let down by the weakness of the scenario .

Time travel and all paradoxes that necessarily come with it ( which this series totally ignores ) are very hard to handle and this is where it fails. I am unsure if it could have been done differently and if the writer could have taken the paradoxes into account in this particular series but after having watched something like Dark, vortex seems like a parody .

Other than that it's 9/10 as far as cast and cinematography, it's an eye candy and very refreshing in many ways.
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10/10
Excellent
burebista6 June 2023
It's not a 10/10 the way Dark is, but let's face it, most series involving altering past are a disaster.

This one does a pretty good job at telling the story, in a touching way, and it also presents beautifully the dilemmas you'd be facing if you were able to alter the past.

It's not going to be a series I will often think about, but I was satisfied with everything regarding it, the actors, the implementation of an idea, the length of the series. They got everything in the right dosage.

There will have to be some suspension of disbelief involved, as the movie does not get into technical details about how the event occurred, but that was just fine. I prefer a movie that says "It just happened" rather than trying to stupidly explain something that cannot be explained.
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6/10
Pretty good but why don't they...?
ella_kelbert17 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
A police officer in 2025, with the new technology available then and due to some kind of vortex in time, is able to talk to his wife in 1998, some days before she died in an accident. They try to change what happened but it gets harder and harder because whatever little act changes drastically the future.

Pros:
  • the whole plot is quite interesting
  • characters very likeable
  • production ok
  • good story about a connection from people in two different times, Ladyhawke vibes


Cons:
  • I wasn't convinced about why the heck they didn't tell the police officer from his 1998's version about the whole vortex thing so he could help his wife and "himself" out in discovering how to prevent her from dying.


First, she doesn't tell him but this starts to be a problem, and then when she does tell him (very badly explained, btw) of course he wouldn't believe her. She could have brought him to the beach so he could see it himself but she would rather stay at her friends house which didn't make sense.

So, I found it interesting in the beginning but I got a little disappointed because they did things that were too stupid and therefore implausible.
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10/10
Stunningly Good SciFi Whodunnit!
grantham-151257 June 2023
This is a simply excellent short series. The plot twists and turns, the acting all round is superb and red herrings are thrown at you all the time! But what a ride!

You need to suspend disbelief just a little but the cast are so engaging it wasn't hard to do so at all.

The plot revolves around a young couple, one a policeman and his wife l, a young magistrate. She is murdered and years later her still distraught ex husband is investigating the case using new Virtual Reality technology to revisit the crime scene.

Strange things start to happen. And gradually possible perpetrators for the crime emerge. But which one is the real killer?.....

Top marks France for an excellent short drama series!
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6/10
As usual, French acting and pacing ruin it all.
franck_lam8918 July 2023
Technique-wise, good. Plot and story, well-written. OST? Good enough! Anyhow, as aforewritten in the title what wasted it all: the 2 main characters' acting. So very French. When Mélanie broke into tears (+ her voice), you just don't buy it. It's time for French cinema to distinguish theatre acting and cinema one! They are always overdoing it. The dialogues too are frail. Sometimes, it's like hearing people talking in the street. Come on, the rest is really pretty good. Minus 4 points for that, sorry. At least, you want to watch it all until the end but hopefully French acting will get better... The character Agathe, was a good one, tho.
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3/10
Wasted potential
loga260418 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Big fan of time travel related themes, but don't feel the writers put much thought into this one. Mel could have easily just remained at home with Ludo on her "death day" to avoid being killed. Yet... she chose to go out, wearing the same clothes she wore when she was dead, carrying a revolver, and shooting up half the town in the process driving around recklessly. She did everything she could to try and ensure the worst outcome. After she killed hector, she could have easily claimed self defence.

The story's overall theme was really interesting, but way too many plot holes and not to mention and idiotic main character.
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10/10
WOW!!Finished it in 2 days!!Surprised!!!
mayamorel-259316 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Wooowwww this series was a wonderful surprise!!

I really wasn't waiting for such a captivating series!!

If I had more time I could have finished it in 1 day :) The story flowed really easily and in a nice way.

I really liked the actors they all were naturally good.

The suspense was clearly there!!!!

The production was also great, nothing made me uncomfortable.

Bravo!!! Normally I always have some prejudices French series....but this one really pleased me a lot!!

Love stories + a little of VR & modern touch + police thriller vibes + family values + a surprising end touch!!! What else do you need???
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10/10
W O W
nathas-0983822 September 2023
This was the best mini series i have seen in a long time. They did a great job handling the sticky nature of time paradox's. The actors were great, & the story was very well written. And since it is in French, I had to watch it with English sub-titles, which is always a challenge. But it still was great. I only hope some day there will either be an English remake of it, or someone will add English voice dubbing, for us dumb Americans. If I could give it a rating of 12-13, I would. I strongly suggest you watch it for yourself. If you are interested in the idea of time shifts, parallel realities, & like a good story that pulls at your heart strings, you won't be disappointed.
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10/10
One of the very best time travel creations I have seen! (This is SO GOOD and needs more attention!)
movieconnoisseur5004 June 2023
I've seen many of the best time travel shows and this show definitely holds its own and is amazing in its own right! Love everything about this show. I am so surprised it has so few reviews on IMDB! But hopefully that will change now that it's on Netflix! The score should definitely be higher than just 7.1. God bless the writers and everyone else involved on this incredible show! It's obvious from how high quality this is that they worked hard to make this special.

From the very start, Vortex gripped me and it never let me go! It's extremely well-acted, the characters are complex & multi-dimensional and well-written all the way through! They all have their own personalities and definitely aren't bland, which sets it apart from the problems plaguing most crime dramas and other mind-bending shows. I cared about the characters.

Nothing comes off as cliche or uninspired. I was never bored once in the entire show. The plot is complex but still easy to follow along with and gripping too. Not once did I feel the urge to increase the speed on Netflix.

The lead actors, Tomer Sisley and Camille Claris, are phenomenal (but so is everyone else on the show). The makeup they do for aging some characters in the future timeline is some of the best I've seen. The beard and long hair on Tomer Sisley looks so real that I wasn't even sure if it was the same actor!

I've seen a LOT of time travel shows/movies, including many of the best ones like Dark, Lost, Timecrimes, Triangle, Frequency, Mirage for example. Of those, the show really is most similar to the tv show Frequency and the movie Mirage. I believe the writers may have been inspired by the Frequency (which was an amazing underrated show, a lot better than the original film), but Vortex is even way better, managing to improve the concept and reinvent it into its own thing.

This show has a very interesting form of time travel and the rules it set stayed consistent throughout the show. It's now definitely one of my favorite pieces of time travel media! I am looking forward to see what each of the creators/writers, Camille Couasse, Sarah Farkaz, Franck Thilliez (idea), and Marine Lachenaud come up with next!
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8/10
A Crime Somewhere in Time
albertval-695609 June 2023
This is a fresh take on time travel. There have been films dealing with the subject of time travel but this is the first time that I've watched a movie that explains space-time anomaly by means of a glitch on a new technology that reconstructs crime scenes thru virtual reality.

It's a whodunnit somewhere in time but a love story at its core. This is the unique appeal of the movie.

Who can say that this isn't plausible. Science fact may turn out to be stranger than fiction.

How the movie uses this plot device to spin the story completely engages the viewer. This reflects a well-made script that involves the viewer in the hunt for the killer.

The actors are excellent in their respective roles. Tomer Sisley, Camille Claris, Eric Pucheu and Zineb Triki deserve our praise.
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10/10
A real great surprise .
windoe-642677 January 2023
Probably the best serie ever saw.

Captivating story , great actors , emotions , increasing suspense till the final who will never let you the same .

I couldn't wait for the planning on TV and devoured the 6 episodes in 2 days 😋 I think the mix of fantastic ,(not too present) deep love story and emotional dilemnas is really perfect , without forgetting a touch of humor all the time , as Tomer Sisley is used to .

A great surprise , because I watched the first episode a bit by fate ,and immediately dived in.

Let them come ! As long as we will have great art like that , we'll still watch TV 😉👍
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10/10
I Wish Netflix Had Dubbed This One
heykateforever8 June 2023
Because more people would have found this top-notch, excellent six episode series! So many people have gotten lazy about reading a television story in another language. I am one of them. But I am also a huge fan of The Butterfly Effect and all things sci-fi, so I dropped my laziness and watched it anyway. Soon, I had my even lazier husband hooked into it!! He has NEVER watched a show not dubbed. But he was very happy I talked him into this one!

A twisty tale of love, intrigue, mystery, science fiction, done with an excellent cast, up there with one of the best stories I have seen anywhere, anytime. I used to give out 10 ratings to too many shows. I dropped that over a year ago. My standards have increased as the quality of entertainment across the board has decreased. I won't drop any spoilers in here. There are plenty of other reviews if you want more information about this story. Just going to leave it at - this is absolutely one of the best shows I have seen in a very long time. You decide if you can drop expectations on a few plot holes and the sci-fi aspect of Vortex. Well done, France!! Extremely highly recommended watching.
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9/10
What a Ride!
lornak-1800816 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I just finished watching and my head is still pounding from being on the edge of my seat. Seriously. This is science fiction/crime drama at its finest. It's French with subtitles in English and I was so involved in the story that I forgot I was reading subtitles. That's the sign of a good story to me although subtitles have never bothered me. This story jumps back and forth through time by way of a vortex machine used to solve crimes by homicide detectives. When a detective at a murder scene(where his own wife was killed 25 years before)sees his dead wife there, he uses the vortex to solve her murder. The not yet dead wife is helping him 25 years in the past figure out how she was murdered. I was better at the crime solving than they were-just saying. It was exciting and kept me on edge throughout the final two episodes. The acting was pretty stellar. Highly recommended to detective/thrillers/science fiction fans.
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10/10
Finally a worthy series
taltintis18 July 2023
What an amazing series, time travel done with a twist, very touching storyline and amazing acting. Everything about it is exceptional, from the sci-fi aspect to the drama one and to the suspense filled storyline and superb acting. I tried to stretch it as long as I could and I even watched the final episode in three parts so that it would last longer. I am so glad I came across it, at the beginning I was sceptical thinking oh ok another time travel show but I was very happily surprised by its top notch quality and clever plot. I was so sad that it was just 6 episodes but I am anxiously waiting for season 2. Come on Netflix don't let us down!
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9/10
Going back ... and forth
kosmasp9 June 2023
No pun intended - movies that deal with time (travel) issues really have ... well they have to deal with a lot of stuff. Now it is imperative for you to suspend your disbelief and just go with the flow ... or rather just not ask too many questions .. consequences and all that. This focuses on the big changes ... there will be no answers to a lot of questions about how and why ... but they will not all be adressed ... actually changes are being seen ... but only in the bigger picture (no pun intended).

The acting is superb and I reckon the show (I mistakenly called this a movie previously) lives off its out there story ... and it works if you let it. Especially the first episode really drew me in ... it is not as complex as it could have been and I sort of new before the characters ... but you can't have it all .. now can you?
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8/10
It's binge watch worthy detective series with a time travel twist but don't analyze it too much!
gen867 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
From a purely scientific and time-travel related aspect, even logical if you will the movie has so many plot holes that you can make a separate movie just analysing the nonsensical stuff, honestly it's a lot. That's why I realised I shouldn't think too much and just have to enjoy the emotional side of things and the suspense in the constant butterfly effects, oh yeah and also to figure out who's the killer.

It's not a movie for time travel geeks, many things don't add up or make sense, they're just there because the movie can't continue without them.

The script is mostly focused on the drama and the detective side of things. About that I want to say something to the script writers, guys, I get it, it's nice to have a massive plot twist and to constantly direct the audience to all the wrong suspects, however it's not really a plot twist if you showed the actual killer in a total of 3 scenes 15 sec each. It's almost like you had to pick him because no one would suspect that the guy who brought coffee in the office in the second episode and had 2 lines to say is the killer. The good plot twists happen when all the suspects are given equal screen time and lots of communication, you can't just pick the secretary who picked up the phone in the background and voila, that's our killer lol.

Personally I loved all the butterfly effects, that was the real surprise for me.
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3/10
A good series, but ...
stehaug3 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The first five episodes were engaging and well made. The characters and the plot outline were satisfying.

The filming was good, and the story was fascinating even if we know that time-looping is not possible in real life.

Some slow at times, but generally good pace.

In Norway you can see this series on NRK (Norsk rikskringkasting) as a 6 part series, each lasting 45 minutes.

However, the last episode showed a different version of the last days of the marriage, and in the first episode the husband got the message rhat his wife was dead, and we even saw pictures of the body, and witnessed the husbands grief.

But the last episode contradicted that, made me go from a 6 score to a score of 3. All in all, entertaining until the last episode.
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8/10
Good story and plot starring a horrible cop
szeneslaura20 September 2023
As much as I hate time travel plots, lucky I didn't know this would be kinda that, as in that case, I wouldn't even given it one shot. However, in this show it got a new and creative form, but more importantly, time travel wasn't the main point. It was the moral questions it brought with itself.

The story was interesting and kept me curious and guessing what would happen next. The acting was fine, too. But Ludo... horrible cop. A very, very dilettante one with awkward steps, communication, or skills to hide his true goals or secrets. Basically he was really BAD at everything he did: arranging the 'secret' meetings, communicationg with his colleagues, managing his anger, suspecting people, preparing for risky situations... simply just everything. He was just drifting with the events and should be very thankful other characters were much cleverer than him, so much so they even preceded his death from his own stupidity.

It really annoys me when a main character cop is such az idiot.

But other than that, the show is a good one to watch once.
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