Netflix’s The Eddy Early Review

After such films as Whiplash and La La Land, it’s hard not to associate Damien Chazelle with music. As limited series are becoming more of a thing across traditional television and streaming services, why not extend that fascination with The Eddy, Netflix’s latest limited drama series. Serving as an executive producer and director, Chazelle bring along a few heavyweights behind the camera as well as an impressive cast of actors and musicians. The series may have its ups and downs over its 8 episodes, however, it’s overarching story is still compelling to watch even if it’s not as deep as it could be and the other subplots are inconsistent. Meanwhile, get ready to do some reading as viewers will encounter quite a bit of subtitles as the series jumps between mostly French and English.

The Eddy follows Elliot Udo (André Holland), the owner of a club as he manages to day-to-day operations of The Eddy, a live music venue in the middle of Paris. His job was certainly chaotic to say the least as he managed both the personalities of the many members of his band as its leader and also his teenage daughter Julie (Amandla Stenberg) who found herself back with her father as a result of her contentious relationship with her mother. The series could have gone deeper with the Udo backstory but in a nutshell, a freak tragedy saw Elliot, a famous jazz musician, lose his will to perform and divorce his wife before moving to Paris and creating a new life for himself, building the club with his best friend and club co-owner Farid (Tahar Rahim) and leading his club band to success.

Little did Elliot know, managing a club was not easy, especially after being thrust into it. The Eddy may not be the most profitable venture but his ultimate goal was getting a record deal for his band. Writing the lyrics and the music for the band, he was a perfectionist and this may have rubbed some the wrong way on multiple occasions. Having his head too far into the music left him unprepared for his new reality which was made even worse as an incident left the future of the club, and Elliot’s livelihood, in jeopardy. Walking that tightrope was definitely stressful for him and for us watching. The club was his life and many others depending on it to support themselves. Meanwhile, Julie was an angsty teen with an established history of drug abuse and general disobedience which led to her banishment to Paris, though she did not get along with her mother and stepfather either. Though she had her usual angsty moments, suffice it to say that she took that behavior with her to Paris, leading to plenty of hardship before predictably turning herself around.

For the most part, The Eddy focuses on Elliot and Julie but each episode would shine the spotlight on singular characters, including certain members of Elliot’s band, breaking up the story with their own subplots to somewhat flesh them out before they would all eventually tie back into the main story with some having more of an overall impact and/or staying power than others. These bits and pieces kind of worked though it’s hard to not want more from some of them. The best example was that of a woman named Maja (Joanna Kulig). the singer in Elliot’s band. Maja was feisty and someone for whom Elliot shared a romantic past with though those feelings seem to have remained. Whether or not they would acknowledge it, their connection was indisputable. Despite their complicated relationship, she often found herself in the middle of her dreams of the spotlight and her connection to Elliot and the band, eventually having to choose one or the other.

For a series revolved around music, The Eddy excelled. From the soundtrack to Elliot’s band consisting of real musicians, this is certainly one of the better sounding series on Netflix. Meanwhile, it was also beautiful to look at, shot in a way that gave the series a raw, foreign indie feel that helped bring the city of Paris to life like it was another character in the story. In the end, it may not all have worked but despite the somewhat predictable ending, it was always fun to watch.

The best part of The Eddy was its performances, especially from Holland and Kulig as Elliot and Maja respectively. Holland showed some chops as Elliot, leading us along a stressful journey that we could feel every step of the way, and giving us some nuance and vulnerability. Sure, the characters could have been deeper but he was still compelling to watch. The same was the case for Kulig’s Maja whose screen presence made it hard to look away whenever she was on screen. She could definitely sing and she could definitely act as we could feel Maja’s pain and frustration, being a woman who has clearly faced hardships though persists with the pursuit of her dream. Meanwhile, Stenberg’s performance as Julie takes some getting used to as she improves over time as her character matures which may have been intentional.

At the end of the day, The Eddy won’t be for everyone. Audiences will know right away if it worth watching but for Chazelle fans and the musically-inclined, it may very well be up your alley and as a limited series, it works as a fun quick binge which is what everybody is doing these days anyway.

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.