The City and the City

2018
6.4| 0h30m| en
Synopsis

When the body of a foreign student is discovered in the streets of the down-at-heel city of Besźel, it’s just another day’s work for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But he uncovers evidence that the murdered girl came from Ul Qoma, a city that shares a dangerous and volatile relationship with Besźel, and this case will challenge everything Borlú holds dear.

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Reviews

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...
Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
halfaworldaway86 Enjoyed all four episodes and the pace was typical of a crime drama. The idea of the 2 cities co-existing in the same place but all citizens are 'brainwashed' not to acknowledge the other cities existence in day to day creates a huge scope to explore. The fear of 'Breach' is only implied so you don't get a real sense why all/most the citizens obey the status quo. I love 1984 so I think I subconsciously brought that and the fear of Big Brother into this whilst watching.
russtpmufc Slow , dull and confusing. But apart from that I loved it.
Tweekums This four-part miniseries is set in the twin cities of Beszel and Ul Qoma; to an outsider they might appear to be one city but residents have trained themselves to completely ignore the other; to notice something in the other city is a crime even if it is right next to you. It is possible to legally pass from one city to the other but once across you must ignore where you came from. Those who cross illegally come to the attention of Breach; the shadowy organisation that polices the boundaries.Tyador Borlú is an Inspector in the Beszel Extreme Crime Squad and his latest case involves an American student found dead in the city; she shoudn't have been there though as she was studying in Ul Qoma. His investigation will lead him to Ul Qoma, to radicals who believe there is actually a third hidden city called Orciny and ultimately to Breach; only then will he discover what happened to the girl and why... also how it was linked to the disappearance of his wife some years before.I haven't read the book and when I saw the trailers for this series I thought it might be a bit too weird; but as I like science fiction and mysteries I thought I'd give it a go. I'm glad I did as I was quickly hooked; to the extent that I watched it in one day. The setting is intriguing and the makers did a fine job of depicting the cities; the 'other' city slightly out of focus often to one side of the screen. Usually in such a story one might expect one city to be dystopian and the other utopian but here both are fairly dystopian, even if Ul Qoma appears to be more advanced. The mystery is solid and the details of the girl's death should keep one guessing till the end. We also get political machinations and a high level of threat much of the time. David Morrissey does a really good job as Borlú and he is ably supported by Mandeep Dhillon, as his new partner Constable Corwi and Maria Schrader, as Ul Qoma's Senior Detective Dhatt, amongst others. Over all I'd say this won't be for everybody but it you want something rather different I'd certainly recommend giving this a go.
oldtraff So far I've struggled through 3 of the 4 episodes,it's extremely slow moving non of the characters are that interesting and there's very little plot development. David Morrissey plays the lead but his acting range is so ltd just like in Britannia fails to bring anything to the role. It's set in a city that is actually split into 2 cities but whichever part someone lives in, the other half of the city is blurred out and then there might be a secret 3rd city inside the other 2 cities,i know right It's supposed to be a murder mystery but Morrissey seems more concerned in using the investigation to find his missing wife who he thinks might've left him for the mysterious 3rd City.All of the flashbacks are of him and his wife,like we care. Normally when i get into a good TV series i binge watch until it's conclusion,I've found myself watching this one 20 mins here and there it's been a struggle.Going into the last episode i don't care who murdered the girl,if his wife is still alive and if there is in fact a 3rd city,hidden among the other 2 cities in one big city. Overall have found it tedious and a tough slog.