THE OA: A Mind-boggling and Beautiful Mystery

The producers and screenwriters at Netflix are clearly fascinated by the themes of death and immortality. Over the years, this television platform has released several series about people who supernaturally cheated death and returned from the grave. First, we could watch ten episodes of The Returned (2015), a remake produced directly by Netflix of the French Les Revenants. The series tells the story of a group of people—children, teenagers, and adults—who one day appeared on the doorsteps of their homes, unaware that years earlier they had died and been buried. Does their arrival herald the destruction of a small town? Where are they returning from, and are they still themselves? Similar questions arise with the finale of this psychological family drama with thriller elements, which unfortunately did not receive a continuation… The OA.

A few months later, the series The Glitch, produced by ABC1, appeared in Netflix’s library. The Glitch begins somewhat more dramatically and even more macabrely than The Returned. Several residents of an Australian town who died over the past hundred years dig themselves out of their own graves one night. They are found wandering naked through the cemetery.

They do not remember who they are and refuse to believe that they have died. It turns out that they can easily turn to dust, like vampires exposed to sunlight. They are forbidden to leave the town in which they lived and were buried…

Both of these series combine drama with elements of fantasy, the supernatural, and a dark mystery from the past as a backdrop. Both explore family relationships, the unexpected return of someone who ceased to exist and for whom there is no longer a place, as well as the concepts of life after life, immortality, and supernatural phenomena.

 The OA surpasses the earlier ones in every way. Not only in terms of its concept but also in its execution, and above all in its fusion of the ordinary with the astonishing, horror with uncommon humor, and madness with the belief that there is something more beyond here and now.

Prairie Johnson (Brit Marling) appears out of nowhere seven years after her disappearance. Now twenty-eight years old, she has not aged a single day since the day she vanished and refuses to discuss what happened to her with the police, journalists, or even her family. She reveals only that she was not kidnapped but was a prisoner and died many times… Yet these enigmatic words are not the strangest.

The greatest mystery remains how a girl who vanished from home blind returned fully sighted. Prairie not only sees; she also possesses the strange gift of influencing people. Is it merely ordinary charisma, or something more?

The girl does not want to talk about her trauma with anyone except five chosen individuals. This colorful group comprises: Steve (Patrick Gibson), an aggressive teenager on the brink of being sent to a reform school; French (Brandon Perea), a hardworking and talented boy from a dysfunctional family; Buck (Ian Alexander), a boy in a girl’s body fighting for acceptance of his true identity; Elizabeth (Phyllis Smith), an insecure middle-aged spinster teacher who has just lost someone dear; and Jesse (Brandon Meyer), an ordinary teenager about whom little more can be said.

Each night, they gather in an abandoned house and listen to Prairie—who now insists on being called OA—tell stories of her childhood in Russia, the loss of her sight, her father’s death, her adoption by an American childless couple, her dreams, her feeling of being someone special whom others labeled crazy and began to medicate with psychotropic drugs, and finally the day she met the angel of death, from whom she spent years trying—body and soul—to escape.

Imagine a series that combines threads and motifs from stories such as K-Pax, The Other, 3096 Days, The Green Mile, and Stranger Things… Add to that a touch of music and dance, including choreography worthy of Sia’s music videos. Quite a mishmash? The OA surprises, but only in a positive sense. Even when you feel inclined to burst out laughing at the bizarre scenes on screen, you quickly realize that what you are watching is not funny or nonsensical; on the contrary, it is beautiful. Moreover, you cannot tear your eyes away, and you get goosebumps all over…

Imagine a tale woven by a woman who may be someone different and unique, someone who returns from a journey into unknown realms, undiscovered dimensions, and serves as proof of transcendence—or perhaps is the victim of a delusional mind, a psychologically devastated being who represses traumatic experiences by constructing an alternative imagined world…

Does a soul exist besides the body? Is there a place where, after death, you will meet all those you loved and lost? What does death look like, and can you experience it fully consciously? On the other side, will you encounter someone akin to a deity who allows you to choose: you may go where your deceased loved ones are, or return to life, but not for free—you must leave something in exchange… The return is only for the strong and courageous. For those who have a mission to fulfill and do not fear suffering.

The screenplay and direction are by Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling, who portrays the title role. The duo did an excellent job. The series is divided into eight chapters, during which present-day events seamlessly intertwine with OA’s stories of her past. The whole is captivating and atmospheric, on the one hand depressive and dark, on the other hand offering much hope.

It is a tale of heroes who are not superheroes but ordinary people endowed with faith. Faith in friendship, love, and the idea that life, despite everything, has meaning. It is the story of ordinary heroes who, one cool night, sat in an abandoned house, let themselves be carried away by an incredible story, and believed in its truth.

The eight episodes of The OA leave a huge sense of longing and, of course—something every series fan certainly expects—more questions than answers. The gate to another world is ajar. Is there a star-filled expanse inhabited by the goddess Khatun, or perhaps only an empty, dark place… It depends on what you imagine and what you choose to believe.

Read about the second, and final season of The OA here.