I love a story with a badass female lead and this Amazon series is that and so much more. A serial remake of the Saoirse Ronan movie of the same name, the first season definitely left me wanting more. There was action and drama and themes of rebellion, normalcy, outsiderness, love and “family” amongst other things. I love shit set out in the wilderness with “spy/trained-killer” action…I don’t know what is is about Eastern Europe that makes it a perfect back drop for these types of stores?!

The plot was just enough without going over the top and getting hokey. The writing was great…I was a fan of the English with the subtitled dialogue thrown in throughout for authenticity. The casting was spot on! Nineteen-year-old English actress Esme Creed-Miles who plays “Hanna” was amazing…a great mix of innocence and badass-ery. Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman (The Killing & Suicide Squad) was great as “Erik”…I liked the way he gave his character depth and you could tell that something was hiding under the surface…he’s not just another pretty-faced beefcake action star…he’s got some range…he was emotional, vulnerable and equally hard-assed. Mireille Enos (The Killing & World War Z) plays a bad “guy” so well…and she looks the part with her icy-cold veneer. Rhianna Barreto who plays “Sophie”, Hanna’s only friend, was also great…she seemed so authentic and natural as a brooding teenage girl trying to navigate family life and friends. Even minor characters like the young guy she meets in the woods in Poland was good.

I loved how they interspersed the flashbacks throughout, setting up the back story for the relationships between all the main characters. The fight sequences were super dope…they make me want to learn how to fight/some sort of martial arts so I can be an ass-kicking badass (even though I don’t need that in my daily/real life LOL). The locations were great…the costume design was on point…the cinematography pushed the story along and helped lay a great foundation…AND to top it off, it was filled with dope ass females and minorities (shoutout to Yasmin Monet Prince who plays “Girl 249)…a win-win (#RepresentationMatters)!!!

Overall, I couldn’t recommend this more! If you’re a fan of Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt type of characters/films, this’ll be right up your alley! I’m super stoked this got greenlit for a second season shortly after it was released! Currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.