Julien Neaves, Editor

Plot: An environmental police officer in Brazil who is still recovering from his wife’s mysterious death and the challenges of caring for his daughter begins an investigation into a pink river dolphin found on the beach. This leads him to discover a hidden and dangerous world of mythological entities based on Brazilian folklore.

Review: One of my favourite aspects of science fiction, fantasy and horror are otherworldly entities. I love learning all about them—where they come from, their abilities, their weaknesses, I just lap all that stuff up. And right out of the gate I will say that Invisible City has some of the most interesting entities I have ever seen put to screen.

There are a couple of recognisable fantasy staples like a mermaid and a witch-like entity, but everything else here is pretty dang original. I wouldn’t even describe the other beings because it would cross into spoilers, but I will say that there are some truly interesting and intriguing folks in this place. I found myself going “What?!” on more than one occasion. And if this is just a sample of Brazilian folklore then it is quite rich indeed.

And the entities are brought to life with some very strong special practical and visual effects. There are a couple moments when the CGI is not 100 per cent but even then it still gets the job done.

Also getting the job done is the top notch cast. Marco Pigossi is a fantastic lead as Eric. He’s a bit depressed and a crappy dad to his daughter Luna, but he is likeable, and you can tell that he wants to do better. And his quest to uncover the truth about his wife’s death is quite inspiring. My other favourites among the cast include Alessandra Negrini as the mysterious Inês, Wesley Guimarães as the mischievous Isac, and Áurea Maranhão as Eric’s dogged partner Márcia.

The plot moves along at a strong but steady pace, adding layer upon layer, as the wondrous world expanded and more and more secrets are revealed. The mix of fantastical creatures and a police element actually reminded me of the 2010s series Grimm, and I loved Grimm so that is a good thing. There is also an environmental message which was a tad on the nose, but the series doesn’t beat you over the head with it.

The story was so strong and the mysteries so intriguing that I was hooked from the first episode and binged all seven in just two days. I found the ending solid though slightly anti-climactic, and that would be my only strike against this extremely well-done show.

So Redmangoreaders, Invisible City gets a very high recommendation from me. And it’s a fantastical world that I would love to revisit in the future.

Editor Jules’s Score: 8 out of 10

For my Top 6 Reasons Grimm Slays you can click here. Or for more great Brazilian content you can check out my review of the futuristic thriller 3% here.

 Julien “Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by Freddy Krueger, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “12 flavours of awesome sauce”. I can also be found posting about TV and movie memes, news and trailers on Facebook at Movieville. And to stay on top of all Redmangoreviews articles you can like and follow us on Facebook here.