This is quite a different series for Walter Presents. It’s a joint Dutch and Belgian production that centres around the Hendriks family, who live in a post-apocalyptic world within the secure walls of Arcadia. In Arcadia, residents are graded according to their Score – a method of determining what advantages you receive dependent on your wealth, education, IQ and various other measurements. If your Score is 8 or higher, you receive numerous advantages in life, such as career promotions and better housing – fall below 8 and suddenly things become more difficult and much less comfortable.
If you want to avoid spoilers, stop reading this article now.
Each individual has a microchip inserted into their hand when they reach 18 years of age, and their movements within Arcadia are monitored 24/7 using this tracking system. It’s a ruthless and unforgiving existence, as the Hendriks family finds out when Pieter Hendriks (Gene Bervoets) is accused of tampering with their Scores (despite his grandfather being the creator of the system). Pieter admits guilt on the condition that his family are exonerated of all blame; but the judge still punishes his second wife, Cato (Monic Hendrickx) and their daughters by reducing their Scores by two points each, meaning they lose their home and suffer demotions at work. As for Pieter, he is escorted by armed guards – known as Shield – outside of Arcadia’s walls and left to fend for himself.
This is really the story of how Pieter’s wife and their four grown kids cope with the changes in their circumstances. Milly (Abigail Abraham) is the eldest daughter of Pieter and is an aspiring soldier at Shield, until her father’s crime sees her rise through the ranks abruptly halted. Luk (Lynn Van Royen) is his other daughter – she’s autistic and struggles with the adjustment to a tiny apartment after her father’s punishment. Cato also has two daughters from a previous relationship – Alex (Melody Klaver), a police cadet at Shield, and Hanna (Ellie de Lange – a Dutch/British actor who you might recognise from The Serpent and Harlan Coben’s Run Away), who is a young and often outspoken nurse.
These five women are collectively fighting the brutal system that has ruined their lives and deprived them of their husband and father.
This is a high-quality production – reportedly the most expensive series ever produced in the Low Countries. The acting is excellent throughout, and the cinematography is stunning – it looks fabulous on-screen. If you enjoy this type of dystopian science-fiction programme, you’ll undoubtedly love this. There are 8 episodes of the first season to enjoy, and a second season aired in Europe last year, too.
As mentioned before, this is quite a departure for WP, but a drama of this high quality deserves to be seen, so I’m glad they went off-piste for this one. It’s a gem.
Walter Presents: ‘Arcadia' is available as a boxset on C4 Streaming now.
