Christmas is just weeks away and Netflix has its priorities straight by gifting us the 2021 mini-series Elves. However, as cute as the name sounds, the show is less about a glittery Christmas and focuses more on the evil present in an isolated, woodland island. This Scandinavian Christmas horror is written and created by Stefan Jaworski and produced by Elise H. Lund. The show flaunts a cast with strong female characters that includes Sonja Steen, Vivelill Søgaard Holm, Ann Eleonora Jørgensen and Lila Nobel. Elves is six episodes long with an episode having a runtime of about 20 to 25 minutes. The audio and subtitles, both are available in English.
– Netflix’s Elves review contains mild spoilers –
Elves: Not As Magical As In Fairytales
Fans of Stranger Things might just have found another stranger and shorter version of the show. Elves 2021 revolves around a family who arrive at an isolated island to spend a tightly knit Christmas together, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Josefine is the youngest in the family who immediately walks into innocent trouble, which was unexpected and uncalled for.
When the family arrive at the island, they assume to have hit something on the way but, turns out they have not. However, Josefine aka Jose cannot put her mind at rest and goes back to the woods near the road to find a baby woodland elf, injured. She takes back the elf and nurses it to health. But, elves are not what they have learned in the fairytale books and something dangerous and truly terrifying is unleashed on the island. And, even though the islanders are prepared, the chances of them and the tourist family surviving is close to none.
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Elves series takes the Christmas creature and myth of elves being Santa Claus’ handyman and turns them into something alien and dangerous. The series clearly takes a lot of inspiration from Netflix’s Stanger Things starting from a missing kid to a brewing young adult romance amidst the chaos to monsters who are probably undefeatable. The director of photography, Lars Reinholdt has completely nailed it with visuals that are so gorgeous and appealing that you would want to stay on this aesthetic island irrespective of the dangers it keeps hidden behind the electrically barbed wires.
The child actors are truly incredible and stand out stronger in comparison to the adults. The female characters are written with more edge and action, giving them a strong ground to stand on. However, it might be difficult to emotionally connect to the character, maybe expect Vivelill Søgaard Holm’s Liv.
This is due to the fact that the series is so short and fast-paced that it forgets to create a safety net for the characters to fall onto like, a background, their emotional side or the reason/cause of their actions. The reason Liv’s character is someone you might end up liking more than the protagonist Josefine is because her character gets some depth (death of parents, wanting to break free but also do one’s duty).
Elves Season 1: Final Verdict
Elves 2021 is not a masterpiece. But, it does not disappoint either. Probably if each episode had been from a different character’s point of view to finally meet at the finale, more substance could be found apart from just pure horror. Nonetheless, the series is a perfect binge-watch companion if you are looking for some fantastical horror this Christmas season.
You can stream all the episodes of Elves Season 1 now on Netflix.
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