Damien Chazelle perfectly captured the jazz/nightclub scene in his 2016 masterpiece “La La Land”. Now he’s at it again as executive producer of the new Netflix miniseries “The Eddy”, premiering May 8th. Chazelle also directed the first two episodes, which I’ve had the chance to screen.
Andre Holland plays Elliot, the owner of The Eddy, a Paris nightclub. Musicians perform there every night including singer Maja (played by Joanna Kulig from “Cold War”). Elliot’s daughter Julie (Amandla Stenberg of “The Hate U Give”) currently lives with her mom in New York, but she takes a trip to France to see her dad.
The first episode, the stronger of the two, immerses us into The Eddy itself and all the different characters. There’s a major twist midway through (which Netflix has stressed that critics not give away) that significantly shakes-up the tone. And the mystery surrounding what happens lingers into the second episode and will continue throughout all eight.
Each ep. puts a different character under the spotlight (though everyone is still very much involved). The second episode mostly centers on Julie, who’s got A LOT of issues. It leads down more typical territory than the first one (titled “Elliot”), which mostly creates its own sound. Holland, Stenberg and Kulig (it’s great to see her on screen again) all deliver solid work, and the gritty feel is palpable.
I just hope “The Eddy” doesn’t get too muddled in itself with drama and ultimately standard fare, especially now with three different directors taking-on two more episodes each.