There are many types of series, from sitcoms to crime series, the main differences revolve around cast, plot, genre, and other variables. But what about a series without actors? It’s the curious proposal made by Calls to Apple TV +. Let’s talk, spoiler-free, about this interesting series.
No photos are needed to create suspense
Calls is the latest addition to the Apple TV + catalog, a series that contains no images, only sound. As the name suggests, the entire nine-episode plot revolves around phone calls between a few people. The truth is that explained this way, it may seem like a monotonous series, but it is anything but. Calls show us that you don’t need images to create suspense in a series that can be described as a thriller and even horror.
Each episode, lasting about 10 minutes, represents a call between two or more people. At first the calls are completely disconnected, but As we progress through the series, a common thread emerges that connects them and gives them meaning.. There are no fixed characters, but we visit different parts of the United States and different points in time to listen to people that, in each episode, we hear for the first time.
Line modifications, cuts, noise, third party calls, voice messages, interference … the context that sound gives us and to which we do not always pay attention.
So are we looking at a black screen? No. While the series can be watched exclusively in audio format, the fact that there are no actors does not mean that we are not seeing anything. Use as a basis a line and soundbars that change with the voice of the characters we see a representation of the conversations at all times. So if Alex calls Karen, we see their names at the end of the line and a real-time transcript of whatever they say.
Line disruptions, cuts, noise, third party calls, voicemail, interference and more the typical situations of a telephone environment are visually reflected in a very curious way. In more than one case, three lines on the screen can reveal whether the call has been cut off and whether the protagonist is speaking alone or with whom he is trying to communicate.
The truth is, commenting a lot more on the series without spoilers is pretty complicated, so we’ll end with a few comments. The first is that if you dare to watch the series and want to follow it, the best is either to see it all at once, which in the end will last like a full movie, or to be fairly regular. The connection between the different episodes is essential to understanding the series and it is in the same process of discovering the plot rather than in its twists that the main grace lies. It’s probably not a show to watch more than once, but it certainly offers an interesting concept.
