The OA

For those of you seeking a late holiday binge-watch, I recommend the new Brit Marling series, The OA, which dropped on Netflix a couple of weeks ago.

Marling operates on an artistic frequency a couple wavelengths over from mine. She makes storytelling choices that would never occur to me and that don’t always work. But even in its most head-scratching moments her stuff resonates with me emotionally, and because I often have no idea where she’s going, she’s capable of surprising me in a way that’s rare. The OA is the best thing she’s done so far.

If you don’t know anything about the series I’d suggest keeping it that way. Just give it an episode; by the time the opening credits appear—which happens, with characteristic oddness, an hour into the story—you’ll know whether it’s for you.