Dead Hot review: Hyper-stylised series is trying too hard

Her debut solo series is Dead Hot, a suitably twisty-turny thriller which arrives on Prime Video this week, and which features a host of rising stars alongside major acting talent.

The question is, with all this potential behind it, is Dead Hot actually any good? Unfortunately, based on the first two episodes, while there are sparks of brilliance to be found here, the answer is that this show is just too messy and, fundamentally, too much.

The series stars Bilal Hasna as Elliot, a young man hugely excited by the first date he's just had with Will, who he met in a club – locking eyes across the dance floor, the whole works.

It's about time that Elliot caught a break, after his previous boyfriend Peter disappeared five years ago, and all Elliot ever found of him was a severed finger, left on display in his own.

Since then, he's been living with Peter's twin sister Jess (Vivian Oparah), who's also on her own journey of grief. However, when mysterious happenings lead Jess to believe that Peter's alive, and leave Elliot shaken, the pair resolve to find out just what is, and what has been going on.

If you're going into this expecting the new Fool Me Once, or a replacement for any of Harlan's shows, then you may be disappointed – or at least half so.

On the one hand, this is another twisty-turning thrill ride, with a whole host of absurd puzzles to unlock, mysterious goings-on and out-there characters.

On the other, this is a far more aesthetically and tonally specific work, and hugely different in that sense from Harlan's more naturalistic styling.

There are loud colours, a bunch of pop songs flooding the soundtrack, bright lights throughout and big performances, emphasised by quick, dramatic camera-work.

On the plus side, this does give the series its own identity and feel, and it does feel largely consistent as a visual piece. On the minus, it is unfortunately all just too much.

The hyper-stylised world, the fast-talking discussions, the constant energy bleeding off the screen – it's all slightly headache inducing, and leaves you feeling somewhat bewildered and bombarded pretty quickly.

This isn't helped by the knottiness of the plot, which might be diverting with its mysteries, but which throws too many kooky concepts and out-there scenarios at the audience for the world, or the stakes within it, to feel real.

All of this means it can be difficult to connect with the characters and their struggles, or know how to even start engaging with the mystery.

In the case of most thriller series, you're able to tell when someone is acting strange and can make some deductions. Here, everyone is acting a little strange, and it's largely impossible to tell the difference between what's being driven by the heightened world and what's a specific character choice.

Of course, this approach isn't impossible. A blend of stylised wackiness and emotional realism has been achieved in a number of series before, and can be hugely successful.

Here, in the first two episodes of Dead Hot, it just doesn't come together, with both the grip of the mystery and the character work suffering.

It's a shame too, because the cast Coben and her team have assembled here is top draw. Hasna and Oparah do have great chemistry together, and prove themselves more than capable of fronting a show. Oparah has already proven this, not least with her BAFTA nominated turn in the film Rye Lane, but Hasna by no means feels out of his depth.

Both of them understand the assignment and deliver it well. They're big performances, and they may not be to every viewer's sensibilities, but they do fit in to this world neatly.

Then, there's the supporting cast, including the likes of Rosie Cavaliero, Peter Serafinowicz and Penelope Wilton, all three of whom dedicate themselves to the tone and the rhythm of the show entirely.

Wilton is a particular stand-out as Elliot's bigoted, controlling grandmother, delivering cutting one-liners and killer looks, clearly having a whole lot of fun in the role.

However, all in all the central problem with Dead Hot is that it feels like it's trying too hard. Trying too hard to appeal to a young audience, to keep the twists coming, to baffle viewers with its 'quirkiness'.

There are impressive feats on display, from the performances to the production design, but when there's so much going on that, after two episodes, its somewhat difficult to summarise the central plot, or what the central mystery involves, then something, somewhere, has unfortunately gone wrong.

Dead Hot will premiere on Prime Video on Friday 1st March. Try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days. Plus, read our guides to the best Amazon Prime series and the best movies on Amazon Prime.

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