“Bodkin” the new Irish thriller on Netflix: Is it worth watching according to reviews?

With a global Netflix release on 9 May, Bodkin stars Will Forte, Siobhán Cullen and Robyn Cara as Gilbert, Dove, and Emmy, a trio of podcasters who arrive to a small Irish town to investigate mysterious disappearances which occurred 25 years ago.

The outsiders are by and large shunned by the local community in their attempt to uncover the truth about the people lost during the town’s annual Samhain celebration — a traditional Gaelic fall festival that celebrates the end of the harvest season and the longer, darker days to come — and realise that even though the village of Bodkin might be small, but it holds some very big secrets.

The seven-episode thriller — which is entirely fictional — celebrates Irish culture, journalism, and self-discovery with creator Jez Scharf stating, “My personal interest as a writer is always in absurdity, really — in the idea that life is broadly absurd. Things that are sad are often funny, and vice versa. I think, having spent a lot of time in Ireland, there’s a certain acceptance of that kind of tone there.”

Is Bodkin any good?

So, is it worth investing ones time in the seven episodes?

The Guardian give the show three stars (out of five) and claim: “It all works, in the end. By the third episode, Bodkin has found its groove and settled into it. There is enough credibility to the mystery, enough jokes to keep it from becoming a straight thriller”.

Less complimentary are The Observer who maintain that the series is ‘deathly dull’ adding: “That is all to say that Bodkin is a major misfire, and it’s certainly not worth your time. Though it purports to be a smart take on true crime, the series doesn’t inspire much confidence or conversation”.

Yahoo Canada are also, not overly impressed with the Netflix release claiming that Bodkin is “not effective true crime, nor is it an effective censure of true crime. It’s somewhere in between, and that doesn’t really serve anyone. The true-crime genre certainly has its pitfalls, but it deserves sharper analysis than this”.