credit: Cabinet of Curiosities
There’s no denying that Guillermo del Toro and his fellow directors are great storytellers, though there are criticisms to be had as well as congratulations for Cabinet of Curiosities. Thankfully most of them are based on personal bias and possibly the idea that the stories didn’t quite mesh the way the directors wanted, so it’s easy to forgive quite a bit and just get into the idea of what was meant to be presented.
From demonic rituals to witches to the simplicity of a ghost story that ends on a softer and more reserved note, which is kind of interesting and actually kind of nice when looking at what a thrill ride the rest of the first season is like. As of now, there’s no set plan for a season 2, but considering how effective this season already appears to be and how enticing the stories were, it’s easy to think that Netflix might want to see a season 2 if del Toro and other directors are up for it, and since sequels and second seasons are usually a safe bet depending on their stories and their reception, it’s not difficult at all to think that this might be the case. To think that another season might show up in October 2023 is easy enough. Waiting for it is the hard part.
credit: Cabinet of Curiosities
It’s fun to see the distinct style of each director in this first season.
Anyone that’s entirely unobservant would be able to say that a lot of stories carry the same elements and don’t appear to have a lot of originality, but that would be horribly inaccurate. The truth is that each story is rather unique and speaks with a very different voice.
The truth is that a lot of them do share the supernatural theme in a very big way, but while a few of them might be capable of belonging to the same world, if not all of them, the feeling is that each story could also stand alone in its own unique universe and create a web of stories that extends outward from it in a manner that might inspire other writers to share their own ideas. That is one goal of storytelling, to inspire others and see what else might come to light
The intro to each story is interesting.
It’s not often anymore that one gets to see a director/storyteller introduce each story before it’s allowed to be shown, and while his introductions are simple and to the point, del Toro does leave each tale open to interpretation since there’s no telling how outside the lines each story is about to go until it’s watched in full.
This style is kind of useful since it gives the audience something to think about before simply stepping into each story, and it helps to introduce the director, which could possibly turn a lot of people on to the individual and their other works if they haven’t already heard of them.
There are a few directors that took part in this season who are well-known to quite a few people, but it’s fair to assume that it’s quite helpful to highlight the individuals all the same. Plus, it’s a nice throwback to times that many older audience members might be able to recall.
credit: Cabinet of Curiosities
There’s a lot of darkness to each story, but it’s kind of expected.
Each tale is exceedingly dark without much of a chance to show anything that’s overly positive or even hints that a happy ending might come along, but to be fair, del Toro’s projects don’t always center around a positive idea that would allow for a traditional ending that could be identified as happy.
If anything, the resolution of each story makes the audience wonder what might have happened if things had turned out a different way, if that would have been better, or if the current way things stand is just the way they needed to end. The fact that this season took advantage of quite a few well-known actors was nice since it gave the audience something to focus on while they acclimated to the overall story.
The final story almost feels like a sigh of relief.
Considering how this season starts out and how it finishes, it feels as though this project was set up in a manner that offered a natural progression that is detailed in various ways throughout each story. From the start, each story goes dark and stays there for a while until the end story, which shows far more closure than most of the other seven tales that are rolled out before the finale. One thing that’s tough about Netflix is that there’s a horrible urge to binge each season of any given show, which means that it’s going to be a long wait until the next season.
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