Psychotronic Cinemavision: Nautilus

An East India Company ship is suddenly destroyed by what at first seems like a giant sea creature but is in fact a submarine.  The ship is sinking and the Captain of the submarine offers to save anyone who is not part of “The Company.”  Flash back to earlier and we find Nemo (Shazad Latif, Star Trek Discovery) is trapped in a penal colony helping to build the Nautilus, the very submarine he helped design along with Gustave (Thierry Fremont) and they have plans to take the ship and escape when it is completed.  Their timeline gets pushed up when the Company wants the sub underwater and operational that day.  The mutiny is not a bloodless one and Nemo loses one of his only true friends. There is more than just escape on Nemo’s mind, his plan is to take the sub and find a missing treasure, but there is also something dark in his past and possibly revenge in his heart.  Back to the present, Captain Nemo takes aboard Humility Lucas (Georgia Flood), a bubbly young woman who also has a fascination with engineering and who is on her way to her arranged marriage and unwanted husband.  Her companion, Loti (Celine Menville) was hired by Humility’s mother to make sure she goes through with the arrangement.  Also allowed to board is a young boy, Blaster (Kayden Price).  The ramming of the Company ship did cause some damage, and the Nautilus loses power and without it, cannot rise back up to the surface.  Nemo cannot figure out a solution, but just when things seem dire, Humility says she knows of a way.

Nautilus is a British ten-part adventure drama series created by James Dormer.  It is a retelling and reimagining of Jules Verne’s 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea giving us the origin story of the infamous Captain Nemo. The series was originally slated to stream on Disney+, before deciding to not move forward with it. Brazil, France and Sweden saw it first as it was released on June 12, 2024.   The distribution rights for the United Kingdom and Ireland went to Amazon Prime Video which released the show in August of 2024.  In the United States and Canada, AMC announced that it would broadcast the series in 2024, but no date has been set.

Sometimes a series just captures your imagination and speaks to you on a different level.  I have always enjoyed Jules Vernes novels, and the movies based off of them, so it is no wonder that this one in particular spoke to me on an emotional level.  The set designs are wonderful with the beautiful lines and embellishments that give a very steampunk vibe to the overall look, with the integration of high-tech devices in a Victorian setting.  But there is also mystery and intrigue and a dark brooding nature to the cast.  Nemo holds some dark past with the company and his family, his good looks are tempered by a rage and yet he also seems to be searching for some kind of inner peace. Humility, as bubbly as she is, is also smart, witty and too intelligent for most men to handle in that era she is a great foil for Nemo, and I am imagining a possible love interest.  Her “maid”, Loti, also has an edge that makes you think she could be very dangerous should the occasion arise. I also enjoyed that the cast is very diverse from their origins with people of all nationalities and race working together. Put all of this together with great music and a well written script and you have an engaging and beautifully crafted series.  I only had time to watch the pilot, but I can’t wait to sit down and watch the remaining nine episodes.