Biohackers
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Biohackers |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Production company |
Claussen + Putz film production |
| Episodes | 6 in 1+ seasons ( list ) |
| genre | drama |
| Director | Christian Ditter , Tim Trachte |
| script | Tanja Bubbel, Nikolaus Schulz-Dornburg, Johanna Thalmann |
| production | Uli Putz , Jakob Claussen |
| cut | Stinne Sonne Munch , Friedemann Schmidt , Simon Blasi , Andreas Baltschun |
| Initial release | August 20, 2020 on Netflix |
| occupation | |
Biohackers is a German television series that is produced on behalf of the video-on-demand service Netflix and is marketed by them as Netflix Original . Luna Wedler and Jessica Schwarz take on the leading roles . The first season was released on August 20, 2020. A week later, a second season of the series was confirmed.
action
The young student Mia Akerlund enrolls at the University of Freiburg to study medicine. She moves into the shared flat of Chen-Lu, Lotta and Ole and makes friends with them. However, Mia has another plan because she wants to take revenge on the renowned professor Tanja Lorenz. She is responsible for the death of her brother Ben. At that time, Lorenz planted genetically modified embryos via her fertilization clinic in order to carry out experiments on these children so that she can advance her gene therapy. Mia, whose real name is Emma Engels, and her brother Ben are such children. Mia secretly works with the journalist Andreas Winter to uncover Lorenz's machinations.
At the University of Jasper, Mia meets a talented biology student and assistant to Professor Lorenz and his roommate Niklas. Mia starts a relationship with Jasper in order to get to Professor Lorenz. She manages to get into the inner circle of gene experiments and collaborate on biohacking technology. By chance, Niklas discovers Mia's true identity and helps her with her research. Over time, this makes Jasper addictive and he and Professor Lorenz also discover Mia's secret.
Jasper has secretly developed dangerous mosquitos that carry the dangerous Coxsackie virus . On behalf of Lorenz, he releases them in a train in which Mia and Niklas are sitting. The passengers who have been bitten by mosquitoes can only be cured with the help of Lorenz gene therapy. This was Lorenz's plan from the beginning, so that she could rule the world with her gene therapy. After Mia has evidence of all of Lorenz's dark machinations, she wants to pass it on to Andreas. The season ends with Mia finding out that Andreas has no intention of uncovering Lorenz's machinations and kidnapping her and Professor Lorenz.
occupation
Main cast
| Role name | actor | Main role |
|---|---|---|
| Mia Akerlund / Emma Engels | Luna Wedler | 1.01– |
| Professor Tanja Lorenz | Jessica Black | 1.01– |
| Niklas | Thomas Prenn | 1.01– |
| Jasper | Adrian Julius Tillmann | 1.01– |
| Chen-Lu | Jing Xiang | 1.01– |
| Lotta | Caro Cult | 1.01– |
| Ole | Sebastian Jakob Doppelbauer | 1.01– |
Supporting cast
| Role name | actor | Main role |
|---|---|---|
| Andreas Winter | Benno Fürmann | 1.01, 1.06– |
| Petra Eller | Zeynep Bozbay | 1.01– |
| Ben Engels | Simon Tiefenbacher | 1.01–1.06 |
production
In addition to individual shootings at the original locations at the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg , the majority of the first season was shot in the Munich film studios. The lecture hall scenes were filmed in the Carl von Linde lecture hall at the Technical University of Munich. Filming started in May 2019 and ended in September 2019.
The production was funded by the German Motion Picture Fund and the FilmFernsehFonds Bayern with at least 400,000 euros.
A second season was ordered at the end of August 2020 and will be filmed again in Freiburg and Munich in autumn 2020.
publication
The six episodes of the first season were originally scheduled to be released on April 30, 2020. However, Netflix decided to postpone it, as public perception was focused on the spread of the novel coronavirus and therefore scenes from the series [...] could be misunderstood . The first season was released on August 20, 2020.
Episode list
| No. | Original title | Director | script | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrivals | Christian Ditter | Christian Ditter | |
| 2 | Secrets | Christian Ditter | Christian Ditter | |
| 3 | Suspicion | Christian Ditter | Christian Ditter | |
| 4th | certainty | Christian Ditter | Christian Ditter | |
| 5 | Treason | Christian Ditter | Christian Ditter | |
| 6th | determination | Christian Ditter | Christian Ditter | |
| On August 20, 2020, all episodes were released on Netflix. | ||||
Receptions
Anna Wollner stated at MDR Kultur that the biohackers approach, i.e. the moral question of medical research, is frightening, but this is unrealistically exploited in the series. In her opinion, the plot is racing too fast and the potential of the plot is completely wasted.
In Die Welt , Christian Meier writes that Biohackers is a properly crafted series that is, however, not very inspiring and convincing. He is particularly impressed by the acting performances of Luna Wedler in the role of Mia Akerlund and describes her as an expressive, multi-layered young actress.
Thomas Bremser describes the scientific approach in Heise online as interesting and criticizes the completely exaggerated characters. From Bremser's point of view, Mia's flatmates in particular seem completely unrealistic, the figure of Ms. Schwarz could have used more depth.
Ursula Scheer also criticizes in the FAZ that Jessica Schwarz could have been given more material for her role. So the cool, elegant appearance of the actress would remain a steel monochrome for long stretches . At the same time Scheer praises the directors for letting the ensemble of young actors act in such a way that everything looks casual and light. Scheer remind the flatmates of a gene doped "TKKG" . Overall, the DNA of the series is cleverly synthesized and should therefore be able to survive in the free streaming wilderness without any problems.
Web links
- Biohackers in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Biohackers at crew united
- Biohackers on Netflix
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Thomas Lückerath: Second season: German Netflix series "Biohackers" extended. DWDL.de, August 27, 2020, accessed on August 30, 2020 .
- ↑ Kerstin Ernst: Biohackers: All information about the new Netflix series. Chip, May 11, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020 .
- ^ Carl von Linde lecture hall. Retrieved August 23, 2020 .
- ↑ Glenn Riedmeier: "Biohackers": German Netflix thriller series shot. In: Wishlist.de. September 12, 2019, accessed July 21, 2020 .
- ↑ FFF Bayern is funding three international series projects by Bavarian producers for Netflix and Amazon with 2 million euros. FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, March 7, 2019, accessed on July 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Thomas Lückerath: Netflix postpones the "Biohackers" series for an indefinite period. In: dwdl.de. March 20, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Anna Wollner: Netflix series "Biohackers": Disappointing thriller about medical experiments | MDR.DE. In: mdr.de. Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, August 20, 2020, accessed on August 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Christian Meier: The secret life of the super professor. In: welt.de. Die Welt, August 20, 2020, accessed on August 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Thomas Bremser: Science vs. Moral: Netflix series "Biohackers" poses cutting-edge questions. In: heise online. August 18, 2020, accessed on August 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Ursula Scheer: "Biohackers" series on Netflix: Keep your eyes open when choosing your genetic material . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN 0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed August 22, 2020]).