The Queen’s Gambit, the new Netflix series that made the chess sexy
The Queen’s Gambit is one of the most popular series on Netflix right now and almost everyone is talking about Scott Franks’s adaptation of legendary Walter Tevi’s novel of the same name. The drama consists of seven one-hour long episodes showing the story of Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy).
At the beginning, we meet little Beth as an 8-year-old girl (Isla Johnsone) at a Christian school for orphans after her mother dies in the car accident. In the orphanage, Beth becomes friends with Jolene and also meets Mr Shaibel (Bill Camp), who helps her to discover the passion for chess. Meanwhile, Beth is also becoming addicted to little green pills that have been given to kids in the orphanage on a daily basis to keep them calm.
Impressed by Beth’s talent in chess, Mr Shaibel introduces her to the coach of the chess team from the local high-school, which starts girl’s journey on becoming the female chess genius. After being adopted by a local couple, Beth starts to develop a good relation with her step mother Alma. Unfortunately, the woman is addicted to alcohol, which also has a huge influence on a girl, turning Beth into her drinking buddy.
Winning next tournaments, also strengthens Beth’s addictions to pills and alcohol. It leaves quite a thin line between the genius and madness for the main character.
While watching the series, we can witness an absolutely amazing performance by Anya Taylor-Joy who plays the main character. Taylor-Joy has already became a top acting talent by starring in the movies “Emma” or “The Witch”, however in this drama she really shows her incredible emotional range. Another thing that we love about the series are costumes. All the costumes were expertly handled by Gabriele Binder, who was a costume designer in the series. Since the drama is taking place in 60s, we can see lots of collared dresses, plain shirts and printed coats.
We can guarantee that the series won’t disappoint you and it will become your favourite just after the first episode.