Streaming on Netflix

When a deadly snowfall in Buenos Aires wipes out most of the population, Juan Salvo and his friends embark on a desperate struggle for survival, discovering that this is just the first stage in a far darker scenario.

When I received the publicity from Netflix about their latest apocalyptic sci-fi drama, The Eternaut, I found myself channelling the spirit of Brenda from Bristol who went viral in 2017 after being told that there was to be a snap General Election. ‘You’re joking!’ she exclaimed in her Bristolian burr. ‘Not another one!’

I wasn’t familiar with Héctor Germán Oesterheld’s original 1950s cartoon strip, and I might have passed on this altogether had it not starred Ricardo Darín, one of Argentina’s finest film actors. Someone of Darín’s calibre wasn’t going to sign up to any old derivative apocalyptic also-ran.

While much in the first three episodes of The Eternaut is indeed familiar to seasoned end-of-the-worlders (apocalyptic event kills loads of people, the remainder of society re-structures itself etc.), what distinguishes it is the social realist verité of its lower middle class characters, in the great tradition of Latin American cinema. These really are ‘ordinary’ and entirely believable people groping their way towards survival rather than displaying implausible heroics, and of course Ricardo Darín as Juan Salvo owns every frame along with César Troncoso as his increasingly unstable and unpredictable friend Alfredo.

I am also very much enjoying the way the show is paced, only edging towards its darker alien narrative towards the end of the third episode.

Verdict: The Eternaut doesn’t attempt to compete with other apocalypses on scale or spectacle, but engages us with detail and truthfulness. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out. 7/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com