GrimPrecise I'll tell you why so serious

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Maria Trim Finally, a dance show with REAL dancers. The series introduces a new actor and ballerina Sarah Hay, a real ballerina with lots of talent. Sarah is new to acting who would have thought it her portrayal of a darkly disturbed and emotionally challenged dancer who holds dark secrets was simply awe inspiring. Her use of pain to deal with emotions she did so well and I almost believed this was the real Sarah not Claire she had me believing in her character. Flesh and Bone for me I think a mixture of Gothic horror, and fairy tale. Was Claire a Princess escaping a prison and her abusive past. The ending at episode 8, was certainly down to a fairy tale, with the Knight slaying the Dragon to help the damsel in distress.Claire escapes her home to get away from a bully of a father who is disabled and very demanding, and a brother who is suffering with PTSD after coming back from Afghanistan who is also deeply disturbed. Was Claire the only victim in her life growing up? I don't think she was I feel her brother was also a victim of the violent father who treated them both like his slave. I feel the two simply became one to get through the life they had, and turned to each other in an incestuous way. I think they both needed each other and I believe Claire needed her brother more then he needed her in the end, as he had time to get away to the Marines and realise perhaps his life wasn't as bad as he thought it was, as he had seen far worse horrors in Afghanistan then in his own life and tried to get away from her in the end. There are dark secrets to this relationship which will explain in part why Claire is so emotionally in a mess but I won't say anything as it will spoil it but there are tiny little clues if you look for them. Claire arrives in New York and goes for an audition to a ballerina company which is virtually surviving on fresh air. She meets Paul the creative director, who sucks his dancers dry and lives in his own hell and dealing with his own demons. He is almost like a Svengali and manipulates and controls all around him and if they dare to question his methods will use his sinister influences to make their lives hell. He treats people who love him like dirt, he holds them all at arm's length because of the loss of his only love. He is cruel horrible at times, but then can turn into a mesmeric character who can get the best out of people especially when it suits him. Claire moves in with Mia who has a mother who smothers her, Mia has an eating disorder and other issues. We even have time in 8 episodes to meet Sergei Zelenkov. A man who loves ballet, but not a man to be trifled with. He runs a strip club where another principal dancer who is privileged and comes from a rich family Daphne moonlights and introduces Claire to this world. Claire is drawn there on several occasions when she is herself in a bad emotional place, and ends up working alongside Daphne until she realises that Sergei is running a sex slave operation and is actually working with the likes of the Russian Mob. We also meet my favorite character in the series. The amazing Romeo who is played expertly by one Damon Herriman who has been in many films and started off in The Sullivans a successful Soap in Australia. Romeo lives under the flats the girls live he is homeless. Romeo is a complex character perhaps an undiagnosed schizophrenic who has taken it upon himself to look after the two girls. He is also writing a book and shares this knowledge with Claire as towards the end he wants her to read it, he believes he is perhaps a soothsayer, someone who can see what is going to happen in the world, and suddenly this book is the most important thing in his life, and is entwined in the fates of the main characters. In Episode 8 as I have mentioned above he becomes her knight in shining armour and slays the dragon as Claire had earlier told him he was the Knight as in his story he had wrote he had cast himself as the fire eating dragon, but she told him he wasn't that, he was the knight …. And by saying that Bryan her brothers fate was sealed. The end of the series is simply amazing, not only do we see fantastic ballet but unfolding behind the scenes is horror which takes your breath away. The last scene of Claire standing looking in the mirror with Paul the director standing behind her will haunt me for a long time, the look in her eyes when she defies Paul is perfection. You can see she is finally free and curtain goes down. I can't believe the company Starz who made this fantastic series, never continued it with a season 2, I think it would have been great to have finished off all the stories, all the other characters their stories, it would have been so easy to achieve. WARNING. This is powerful over 18, with sexual content of a nature which may upset people.

mariamsholaja If you are reluctant to start this series, please do not be. This series was thrilling form the absolute beginning to the end, it's honestly one of it's kind. The combination of art and pain is just riveting, and I request every single person to watch it. I honestly wish it was longer, I really do. Utterly amazing. (I really just created an account just now so I could write this review)

MariaTakla I really felt the need to write a review about it...Where should I begin? Well all the actors are diamonds,as well as the dancers.The plot is very good, it shows many aspects of ballet life and generally of artistic world, and also many phychological states that many people may have experienced. Also very good image, very good mix of music and feelings and lights.Amazing choreographies.It shows a real ballet class (if only you didn't make it look so easy to find your perfect pointe shoes :P)But all these are just words trying to express what I saw and felt. The truth is that whilst i was watching the series I had very intense feelings, and not just an anticipation of what is going to happen next.It was perfect experience. Thank you very much for giving us THAT!

patriciaa22 I love it. It is precious well played and it would be really sad to not get future seasons because it is a breather, nothing else compares to this series. Great idea for making something new and shaking a bit the TV productions. It is an experience that challenges our minds about prejudices, norms. It makes us take a look at the world and the beauty of the gathering of diversity into one passion, in this case for ballet. It is delightful to watch the performance of the actors, mostly the lead male character . He is like a chameleon. There are many people that will critique or already have done it, because it is not an easy to swallow depiction of our contemporary society and the ballet scene seems like child play after dealing with all the situations shown in the private life of each character but some viewers really need to see something authentic even if it gets crude, nasty, dirty, REAL. So make an exception guys and don't kill a good thing , just because the public is torn. It is not always about how many people you reach it is about how much you touch them with your work. I am touched and happy to happy to have discovered the series.