Netflix's Austrian thriller Freud is a missed opportunity
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The psychological thriller revolving around a young Sigmund Freud gives "one of the 20th century’s most influential (though no longer as vaunted) figures is more in line with the silly revisionist bent of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter than the stately drama of John Adams," says Danette Chavez. "Season one is steeped in blood and horror more than any sense of history, though tensions within the Austro-Hungarian state do serve as a partial backdrop. Such a wild departure from a more traditional biopic series might actually be appreciated if Freud didn’t treat the cocaine-loving, free association-developing doctor as a mere bystander in all the murder and mayhem. The famed psychoanalyst’s name ends up being little more than branding—the season-long story about occultism and political unrest mostly unfolds without his participation." ALSO: Freud is kinky in a dark, and at times, depraved way.
