Nat Geo’s ‘A Small Light’ Is a Profound Take on Anne Frank’s Story: TV Review

The story of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who hid in a cramped attic with her family during the Nazi occupation in Amsterdam, is widely known, and amid the atrocities of the Holocaust, Anne’s diary presents a story of resilience and unrealized dreams. Nat Geo’s new limited series “A Small Light” isn’t Anne’s story, though the precocious teen’s legacy is embedded throughout. The brainchild of former “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunners Tony Phelan and Joan Rater, the series is a tale of resistance, activism and humanity. The narrative centers on one tenacious young woman, Miep Gies, Otto Frank’s secretary, who risked everything to save the Frank family, and countless others.

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Though the Boiled Bunnies Are Lacking, ‘Fatal Attraction’ Has Intrigue in Spades: TV Review

A curious Anne Archer lifts the lid off of a boiling pot only to discover the body of her young daughter’s mangled and bloated bunny. It’s a film scene that still echoes in the minds of cinephiles and physiological thriller enthusiasts alike. However, unlike the 1987 film starring Archer, Michael Douglas and the incomparable Glenn Close, Paramount+’s new series, “Fatal Attraction,” is void of boiled mammals. What it does have is a more intricately fleshed-out narrative of a pompous and ambitious district attorney Dan Gallagher (Joshua Jackson), whose tawdry affair with a young woman, Alexandra Forrest (Lizzy Caplan), quickly spirals out of his control.

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Netflix’s ‘Transatlantic’ Leans Into Glossiness Over Realism: TV Review

Piecing together pivotal historical events in a limited series in order to create a compelling narrative is a tall task. However, creator and writer Anna Winger is no stranger to this work. Her 2020 adaptation of Deborah Feldman’s 2012 autobiography, “Unorthodox,” which followed one Jewish woman’s liberation from her Hasidic community, received critical acclaim. With her latest series, “Transatlantic,” an adaptation of Julie Orringer’s novel “The Flight Portfolio,” Winger is again centering real-life figures fighting against oppression. From 1940 to 1941, literary journalist Varian Fry and American heiress Mary Jayne Gold were instrumental in helping pivotal Jewish writers and artists flee France amid the Nazi occupation. However, while Esty Shapiro’s personal journey to freedom in the contemporary setting of “Unorthodox” was sharp and captivating, “Transatlantic” lacks the same sense of urgency and precision.

Continue reading at Variety.