Shahmaran Season 1 Review: A Particularly Tangled Mystery Netflix Turkish Series
Cast: Serenay Sarıkaya, Burak Deniz, Mustafa Uğurlu
Creator: Umur Turagay
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 2.5/5 (two and a half stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
A brand-new Turkish series Shahmaran arrived on Netflix directed by Umur Turagay. Among the advantages of streaming platforms, of the giant Netflix, there is allowing its subscribers to enjoy products from all over the world; films and TV series that talk about different cultures and with which it would otherwise be difficult to get in touch. As we will see in this Shahmaran review, the Turkish series directed by Umur Turagay drags us into the folklore of a distant country, showing us a rather fascinating reality in its way; the construction of the story, however, is far too slow, and cryptic to involve those who do not know this historical and cultural context.
Shahmaran Season 1 Review: The Story
Sahsu (Serenay Sarıkaya) is a brilliant young psychology Ph.D. student, still reeling from the grief of losing her mother. Called to the University of Adana for a conference, the woman decides to get back in touch with her elderly grandfather: Sahsu soon gets to know Maran (Burak Deniz) and her family, the neighbors who seem to be hiding many secrets. Maran is immediately particularly attracted to the young woman but is reluctant to let go of her nascent feeling as if something fatal were linked to what he is starting to feel for her.
Over time, Sahsu will find herself increasingly entangled in a thousand-year-old mystery, in a prophecy that has to do with the legendary Shamaran, the snake woman who once gave her life, wisdom and powers to the man she loved. What lurks in the shadows and is getting closer and closer to Shasu? Who is the mysterious creature “that must not be named” who would like to harm the protagonist?
Shahmaran Season 1 Review and Analysis
As we anticipated at the beginning, Shamaran’s vision could be a bit difficult for those who do not know the social and cultural context in which the story is set: in the first episodes of the series (which has a total of 8), they are taken for granted different details of the legend relating to the queen of snakes, as if the viewer already had a clear idea of who the characters are and the direction that the story in which they are protagonists will take. The nature of Maran and hers remains very mysterious until the fourth episode, which, instead of capturing more viewers’ attention, ends up detaching them more and more from what they see happening on the screen, exaggeratedly twisted and dark.
The characters, apart from Shasu who acts as narrator, are too shallow to be able to create an emotional connection with the audience: both Maran and his family as well as Shasu’s grandfather act for reasons that are most of the time inscrutable and leave us with more questions than answers. Even the relationships that develop between them seem not very credible: the love between Shasu and Maran, in particular, breaks out suddenly and – despite being vaguely justified by the existence of a prophecy about it – ends up leaving the viewer indifferent.
Shahmaran Season 1 Review: The Last Words
Shahmaran is a somewhat fascinating series, but it is too cryptic for the viewer who does not know the socio-cultural context in which the story is set. Nothing to say about the acting skills of the performers, Serenay Sarıkaya is convincing and has an excellent stage presence, but the script they are working with does not leave much room for them to explore their characters in depth.
