In this time of quarantine and new content overload, I caved and subscribed to the newest short-form streaming service, Quibi. A large part of my decision had to do with the fact that I saw some thriller projects featuring Christoph Waltz and Dane DeHaan…actually, that might have been the only reason. Because even if we all didn’t have an abundant amount of time to spend inside, why would I pay monthly for “shows” that are shorter than some Youtube clips?! It’s seems pretty ridiculous if you ask me. And after finishing one series in just over an hour, I can confirm that it wouldn’t be worth paying for.
Not that I didn’t enjoy watching Maika Monroe and Avan Jogia get chased around LA by a deranged looking Dane DeHaan (the best kind of Dane DeHaan), because for approximately 70 minutes I watched a pretty interesting premise take place. But why not just make it ten to twenty minutes longer, FINISH IT, and make it a movie? That’s right, after seven ten-minute episodes I was left with a very unsatisfying cliffhanger that better get resolved before the year is over. Perhaps I’d consider resubscribing after my free 90-day trial (available until April 30th) if that happened.
I digress. The Stranger is sort of what I just said above. It follows a ride-share driver who picks up a passenger, who after a short drive turns out to be a sociopath. The rest of the series shows her trying to out-run and out-smart this guy, but he’s always one step ahead of everything. In fact, she got herself in so deep that now she seems like the deranged one to the people that matter (the cops). The series ends with her and a gas station attendant on the run…and that’s it. Even though I knew this was only seven snippets, that didn’t stop from triple checking. So like I said, there better be more content coming.
As far as Quibi itself goes, from my research I’ve deduced that there is a ton of content, but I certainly don’t plan on watching a majority of it. If it’s scripted and the cast and premise seems decent I probably will, but anything reality or news related you can just forget it. That might be your cup of tea, and based on the average run-times on all of these shows, you could certainly burn through most of what’s been released in a day (I assume). For a free trial period it could be worth your time though, so if you are looking for something new, definitely give it a try.