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Man in the High Castle (2015)

2015 · Drama,Sci-Fi,Thriller · sci-fi-dystopian, historical-period, political-drama, spy-cold-war

Man in the High Castle poster

The Man in the High Castle is a US prestige alternate-history thriller set in a 1960s America jointly occupied by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan following an Axis victory in World War II. Its greatest strengths are its audacious premise, meticulous period world-building, and Rufus Sewell's commanding performance as SS Obergruppenfuhrer John Smith — a collaborator of terrifying moral complexity. The show rewards intellectually engaged viewers who enjoy geopolitical intrigue, ideological complicity, and the philosophical puzzle of alternate timelines, delivered through a dense ensemble of parallel storylines. Seasons 1–3 are broadly praised as gripping and emotionally layered; Season 4 is widely regarded as a rushed, unsatisfying conclusion that undermines much of what preceded it.

From the reviewers

Rufus Sewell as John Smith. Sewell's performance stands like a mountain among knolls: he absolutely dominates the series, putting in the perfect performance as the ice cold, calculating, ruthless yet family-orientated Nazi.
The central plot, an alternate history where the US loses WW2 and is occupied by the Germans and Japanese, is a very intriguing one and is very well done. The events that took place to reach the alternative reality and how the world and society now look and function all make sense.
It became an enjoyable intellectual exercise for me, figuring out when the alternate history started deviating from the actual, and the events that took place, and didn't take place, for this to happen.
sub-plots are certainly not free of holes or contrivances. It is usually small things, but they are enough to undermine the credibility of the plot, e.g. 50 Japanese soldiers barge into a club to catch a fugitive, they all go in the front door, leaving other exits unguarded, fugitive escapes through the back door
Alexa Davalos imbues Julianna Crain with a wimpy, anaemic, unengaging quality, far from what you'd want the main "good guy" in a series to be. Luke Kleintank makes Joe Blake boring and unlikeable.

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