Entertainment
If You're Into "Buckets Of Gore," You'll Love David Fincher's New Animated Netflix Series
Cartoons containing adult content have been around for a long time, but Tim Miller and David Fincher are taking animation for adults to a whole new realm with Love, Death, and Robots. Netflix's official synopsis says that the show has "terrifying creatures" and "wicked surprises," so how scary is Love, Death, and Robots? The anthology series premieres on March 15 and features 18 self-proclaimed NSFW stories. As the trailer highlighted, it promises to be an intense ride of varying animation styles, violence, and sex. But when considering the scare factor, reviews of the series note that it really comes down to your inclinations and which episode you're watching.
Fincher created the TV series Mindhunter and directed the movies Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl while Miller worked on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and directed Deadpool. So these filmmakers are no strangers to dark, twisted, and irreverent stories. But knowing the résumés of the men behind the creation of Love, Death, and Robots still may not prepare you for the outrageous TV show. And if you're prone to being freaked out, you might be tentative to embark on this over three-hour-long ride. But thankfully, you can make pitstops along the way when the content gets too grim.
The reviewer for IGN watched all 18 episodes of Love, Death, and Robots in one sitting and noted that some of the stories — which range from five to 17 minutes — are humorous and even hopeful. But there are some that will absolutely leave you feeling unsettled. After all, IGN describes the series as containing "buckets of gore, copious nudity (both male and female), and elaborate violence." In its review of six episodes, Observer wrote that viewers may find this violence and nudity "gratuitous and off-putting."
Based on reviews, a couple of the more possibly frightening episodes to prepare for are "Secret War" and "Sonnie's Edge." According to Netflix, "Secret War" is about an army fighting "an unholy evil deep in the ancient forests of Siberia." And Observer noted that "Sonnie's Edge" contains "over-the-top brutality" in its portrayal of monster gladiator fights. IndieWire even said you'll be left cringing at the fight sequences.
Birth.Death.Movies also made "The Witness" sound particularly unnerving since it's about a woman who witnesses a woman who looks like her being murdered — and then the killer comes for her. This is one of the episodes with gratuitous nudity and IGN noted it has the style of a Marilyn Manson music video. So that gives you a little insight into the type of freaky that the episode will be.
While it doesn't sound like Love, Death, and Robots will have you jumping out of your seat due to fright, you may feel the need to peer through your hands for some parts. But one element that will make watching this anthology series a bit easier to watch is the fact that the stories cover all sorts of genres, so it's not a nonstop fright fest. Perhaps even better, you can always take a break after a particularly horrifying episode. But as each story will be over within a matter of minutes, you won't have to deal with any scariness for too long — though, as often happens with spine-chilling stories — a few episodes may linger with you longer than you'd like.