Riviera - TV Series Review

Based on Georgina (played by Julia Stiles) a gripping narrative with her life through a roll over when a group of fellow money traders are killed – among them her billionaire the husband, Constantine. Georgina watches as her seemingly perfect life unravels and is plunged into a world of bloodstained secrets, deceit, and murder. She weaves her way through the perilous strata of wealth, art and crime, finding out that the life of luxury she is able to live is built upon a bloodshed and a lie.

On the one hand the series dances around the subjects of opulence and corruption; introducing glimpses of female empowerment in the middle of chaos. Swaddled in a lavish world of rare loyalty, always lurking betrayal and thrusts viewers into what feels like chaos. While the themes of extravagance and decay are brought to life, maintained throughout in a consistently intensity and suspense, Julia Stiles puts forth an impressive rendition of the scared, yet roused Georgina as she interacts with her new work dream. An ensemble cast, including Poppy Delevingne, Dimitri Leonidas and Lena Olin as the astute, enigmatic first wife, rounds out the drama and adds depth, while the director, Paul Walker, Hans Herbots and Óskar Thór Axelsson all add a taste for tension and a flair for dramatic storytelling. Riviera is played like an orchestra, with directors blending times of quiet, suspenseful and reflective and times of explosive emotion.

Its stylish musical score goes equally as well with the dramatic flair as it contrasts the emotion times. By heightening the suspenseful moments and lashing emotional beats, the cinematography literally sets Riviera into an atmospheric backdrop to enrich the viewers experience.

The cinematography in Riviera is set against the beautiful backdrop of the Côte dAzur, lush and visually beautiful. Riviera is about eacj frame being meticulously crafted, from its glamorous depiction of the French Riviera to its implication of the places underneath those shimmering surfaces.

The production design on Riviera is lavish and detailed and a reflection of wealth and high society. Riviera settings, from the high end of the art world to Clios mansion, are perfectly appointed and help pull the show into the heightened atmosphere of tension and excess — special effects are used sparingly but they work because they support the more dramatic elements of the narrative. Riviera delivers explosive sequences expertly, helping to make it visceral, too.

Riviera boasts sharp editing that is mindful, with a brisk pace and still allowing dramatic tension breathing space. The clear transitions between past and present keep the story clear, while also holding the viewers interest of the complex storyline.|The series moves at a pick up but deliberate pace that allows the story to slowly unfold. There is a balance between tension and revelation that keeps the viewer engaged in each episode and dialog in Riviera is sharp and reflective with moments of tension and emotional depth.

The nuanced conversations give rise to the motivations of its characters and layer in to the mystery.

Riviera is a beauty to behold, and also provides quite a drama, with the story line extending believability at times. Though sentimentalized at times, this sense of opulence too often elides deeper character development, but the series makes up for it with its energetic pace and splender.

Its like watching Riviera, diving headfirst into a world of opulence and mystery, where every scene is a banquet for the eyes and a head scratcher for the brain. There is a sense fizzing of morality versus riches that the series explores — with high Distrust — and then you leave the series awed at how elegant the trickery is and excited by the storytelling.