The Man In The High Castle Review: It Should Be On Your Watch List

There was a time when I watched network TV and there were shows I absolutely could not miss, 24 and more recently The Blacklist comes to mind. But those were rarities and more often than not even if I found a series I enjoyed, I couldn’t commit to the same bat time, same bat channel mentality. Fast forward to the age of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime and enter the era of watch when you want and how much you want. The Man In The High Castle is an Amazon Prime television series based on the 1962 book of the same name authored by Philip K. Dick which I never knew existed until now. The series takes place in 1962 and imagines a world where the United States and its allies lost the second World War.

After the war, the Nazis and Japanese take control of the United States dividing the country into three distinct territories: the Great Nazi Reich, the Japanese Pacific States, and the neutral zone. Throughout the series, the sharing of the United States is obviously one of convenience due to the current situations both the Nazis and the Japanese find themselves in. Throughout the film, the main character’s roles almost exclusively revolve around reels of film that the Nazis do not want anyone to see. Most of the characters have no clue what is on these films but it is revealed to a couple of them which inevitably leads them to make serious choices.

I’m going to stop there because this series totally deserves a watching and I certainly don’t want to spoil anything for you. Just know a few things: if you’re sensitive about World War II and what happened in that war, you may want to steer clear. Remember, this deals with a world in which Hitler wins and that may not be something everyone wants to ingest (even in fiction). But looking at this as a work of fiction it is absolutely brilliant. The writing, acting, and production are top-notch and if you have Amazon Prime, this should be on your watch list.