Shahmaran Review: Snakes, Romance, and Gore Form an Unconventional Love Story

Shahmaran Review | Leisurebyte

Director: Umur Turagay

Date Created: 2023-01-20 12:30

Editor's Rating:
3.5

Shahmaran, aka Şahmaran, is a Turkish fantasy romance series directed by Umur Turagay. The movie’s plot is based on the Persian myth of the queen of snakes and her human lover. Moreover, the story mainly follows how the myth is connected to Sahsu and Maran. Season 1 was released on Netflix on 20 January 2023.

– No Spoilers –

Shahmaran Review

Shahmaran series’ introduction gives the viewers a nice baseline about the Persian myth while showing a man jumping off a cliff yet staying alive. Then we’re introduced to Sahsu, the granddaughter of Duvat who pays a visit to confront him for leaving her mother. At the same time, we will see a family nearby noticing Sahsu and confirming that she is the chosen one. We won’t know what she is chosen until the end, so that’s a good way to build curiosity.

In the eight episodes, we will discover heaps of unsolved mysteries while the focus remains on Maran and Sahsu’s undeniable attraction towards each other. Nevertheless, Maran knows the whole truth of what’s going on and what’s going to happen, however, Sahsu remains completely unaware of the perils.

Caught amidst secrets, Sahsu tries to fix the puzzle but Maran focuses on protecting her from danger. When things slowly start to make sense to her, that’s when the series feels a little dramatic. Honestly, till then the entire series had Midsommar vibes (just vibes, not similarities). But in the last episode, way too much happened that left certain areas half-baked.

Coming to the aspects that felt noteworthy, the first thing I have to point out is the insane chemistry between the two leads. Their steamy scenes, their fights and the way they look out for each other weren’t too cringy, rather, it felt realistic (also had the fantasy theme loaded in). Additionally, there’s a love triangle here that makes your heart race and doesn’t leave you feeling annoyed or overburdened.

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Moving on, the series contains a lot of snakes and gory images, which made me uncomfortable. So those who have Ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) must at all costs restrain from watching this series. As there are just so many aspects in this series, we can’t simply limit it to romance, thriller, horror, fictional or fantasy, etc. It’s a combination of all, that’s what I would say. Well, is that bad though? Absolutely not.

Speaking of the editing, I loved it. The colour grading was warm and the chosen locations were brilliant. Thanks to international movies we get to see the world around us and that said, the Turkish dances and customs present in this series made it artistic. Notably, the costumes of the Mar people once again open up the world (that we don’t know about) for us.

Similarly, the actors did a wonderful job. As this plot is pretty tricky, the actors had to play it out well so that it could help the audience witness the mixture of genres, and it was delivered excellently. Kudos to the art design team because the sets which they brought in added to the overall aesthetics.

Final Verdict

While watching the series, I was constantly intrigued to know what was going to happen and the reasons behind the events that were happening. It is only in the last episode we can get a proper understanding of the entire plot, however, on a personal note, I felt that this particular episode was rushed. They could have taken it slow because the reason behind all the 7 episodes have their answer in the 8th episode. But they made it pretty dramatic and I couldn’t catch up easily as it was quick.

Hopefully, we will get season 2 because it is evident that the prophecy hasn’t ended. Another character seems to set off for the revenge so it’s evident that another part will be released. Shahmaran is absolutely amazing and has curiosity-building aspects, a stunning cast, steamy scenes, mythological concepts and more to offer.

Let us know your thoughts on Shahmaran Season 1 in the comments below! Are you excited for season 2? Let us know your theories as well!

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