This article was published on 4/13 and republished on 4/14.
Netflix has once again found a new, niche hit, one that may not be sprawled across the internet’s headlines, but a stellar new comedy you would be wise to check out.
That would be North of North, the new series that has a 100% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and as it stands, a great 93% audience score as well. Here’s the synopsis:
“A young Inuk woman wants to build a new future for herself after a spontaneous — and extremely public — exit from her marriage. But it won’t be easy in a small Arctic town where everybody knows your business.”
North of North reflects a recent trend of absolutely stellar native/indigenous peoples content on television, ranging from the recently wrapped Reservation Dogs to the still ongoing police drama Dark Winds, which has been licensed for Netflix. Even True Detective Night Country nabbed an Emmy nomination or two (though I would not put that in the same quality category).
The show has debuted at a solid #5 on Netflix’s Top 10 list, pretty excellent for a show most people have not heard of. It’s an easy watch with just eight episodes averaging around 25 minutes. It does not seem to be a limited series, meaning it’s aiming for a second season, but with a low cost, easy binge-ing, solid initial viewership and high scores, I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t get one.
If you want further convincing, you can check out the official trailer for the series here which aired about a month ago:
Netflix is of course always pretty up and down with its quality, and its just-okay or even bad shows can rank high on its lists. But it’s always nice when a new series comes around to surprise us all, and that seems to be what’s happening with North of North. Here are a pair of reviews that seems to sum it up the best.
- The Hollywood Reporter: “North of North is unassuming in its humor, only occasionally provoking full-on belly laughs or delivering memorably quotable lines. But I found, as I kept watching, that what was near-constant was the smile on my face.”
- LA Times: “Big feelings, turbulence and life-changing dilemmas abound, but most of all the show wants to make its people, and you, happy.”
Easy watch for a day or two, so you might as well see what all the praise is about. As for a season 2? Who knows, but I’m getting very positive vibes from this already in terms of its chances.
Update (4/14): I have been curious about the backstory of how this show was conceived, and I found an interesting interview from TIME with its showrunners, Stacey Aglok-MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. Here’s a discussion on how they tried to make North of North distinguished from other Indigenous media:
“A lot of us have been painted as these disappearing cultures, which is not true at all. And so a lot of Indigenous filmmakers are choosing humor. The vast majority of media about us has been done by others, and we’re breaking away from that tradition.”
And then what misconceptions they want to clear up using the show about the Arctic and its people:
“We are not a cold and desolate place. We are actually really bright, warm and loving. Our communities are beautiful. We’re not just trying to survive, we’re actually thriving and enjoying our lives up here in the Arctic.
I still haven’t had time to watch it yet, but I’m definitely going to soon. It sounds excellent and now has moved up to #4 in Netflix’s top 10 list, indicating interest is rising.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Bluesky
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
