Just like it did with Black Mirror: Bandersnatch in 2018, Netflix is once again toying with the structure of narrative storytelling, releasing its upcoming series Kaleidoscope in a non-linear order.
Indeed, feel free to watch Kaleidoscope in any order you want, with the non-linear crime series starring Giancarlo Esposito, Paz Vega, and Tati Gabrielle offering something new on every unique watch. Based on a loose true story, the anthology series spans 25 years and follows a crew of master thieves and their efforts to crack into one of the most infamously guarded vaults in the world.
Each episode uncovers a new clue to the puzzle, revealing the corruption, greed and betrayal that lies behind what’s inside the vault and those trying to get inside it.
Whilst the series sounds like a thrill ride, that will surely better Netflix’s 2021 disappointment, Army of Thieves, it is the writing of the show that proves to be more interesting than the basic premise itself. Structured in a non-linear fashion, depending on what order you watch the show, it is very likely that you will come out with a very different perspective than another viewer who took a different viewing path.
We compared Kaleidoscope to Charlie Brooker’s experimental video game/TV show hybrid Bandersnatch in the introduction, but it’s also worth mentioning that Netflix utilised a similar non-linear structure for the return on Arrested Development in 2013 too.
Kaleidoscope will start streaming on January 1st.
