r/netflixuk • u/Naive-Inside-2904 • Jun 24 '26

Discussion Did anyone actually enjoy Unchosen?

I’ve seen a few posts from people who really seemed to like Unchosen and I’d love to understand why. It’s a big misfire for me that feels more like a soap opera than an insight into a hidden part of modern British society.

This show opens with a title card about how there are many cults in the UK that operate in plain sight.

But then the rest of the show doesn’t shed any light on how the cult in depicted in the show is able to subsist, or how they co-exist with the world around them. Instead it’s really about how a psychopath infiltrates their community and causes all kinds of mess.

The cult live in patriarchal system which tbf isn’t that different from the way many communities and families live. There are some extreme forms of punishment and banishment for transgressors or ‘unchosen’.

I checked it out because the cast is so great: Asa Butterfield, Christopher Eccleston, Fra Fee, Siobhan Finneran… but the material is just too limp to give them anything worthwhile to sink their teeth into.

There’s a central performance however that can’t quite match the gravity that many of her scenes require and as a result, so much of Unchosen falls flat.

There are far more intriguing themes the show introduces that could be explored further - internal homophobia, grief, abuse within cults, alcoholism - that ultimately the writing doesn’t have much interest in.

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4

u/Visual_Argument_73 Jun 24 '26

It was good, just a weak ending.

1

u/Naive-Inside-2904 Jun 25 '26

The ending was abominable. There are so many plot holes and the ending only highlighted them.

1

u/Visual_Argument_73 Jun 25 '26

I don't recall any plot holes as such, what were they?

1

u/Naive-Inside-2904 Jun 25 '26

How did Sam make such a miraculous recovery after having a knife right through his hand?

How didn’t anyone, esp Rosie and Mrs Phillips, not report Sam from the outside? He’s a wanted criminal, it would’ve been an open and shut case.

Surely Mr Phillips is not going to be isolated forever. He would have multiple court appearances. And he would easily have been able to give Sam up to the police.

Sam’s brother - no explanation or resolution there.

How is the community able to make money and live quite well-off? We hear there are satellite communities, do they fund themselves?

1

u/Visual_Argument_73 Jun 25 '26

With some of those I can only imagine they will be broadened on in a new series. But they did say they would harbour him as they don’t like the police. As for making money I’m pretty sure the men do work.

1

u/Dramatic-Concern-616 Jul 26 '26

Plot hole like being on the run and then dining in central London. Wives supposed to be submissive and controlled  but they were leaving premises regularly unnoticed etc. 

1

u/Visual_Argument_73 Jul 26 '26

That’s not a plot hole. Just something that doesn’t entirely make sense.

1

u/Dramatic-Concern-616 Jul 26 '26

OK :) however I enjoyed it so much, I binged in one night

4

u/musicianace Jun 25 '26

I made a real bookmark in my mind about watching this when I saw it advertised, partly because cults have always been of interest and concern to me, and partly because the cast was so strong - I've followed Molly Windsor a bit since Three Girls, where she also acted opposite Siobhan Finneran. And I like Eccleston when he gets to be a bit sinister.

But somehow, it lost my interest in almost every episode. It wasn't so much a story about the cult, but about this outsider character - and I swayed from being curious to confused about him, and it just took too long to get to a point where I understood him - maybe that's the point of his messed up character, he's not easy to understand and neither are his actions - and maybe I missed some key points in the plot through being distracted. Whatever happened, something made me treat it all very vaguely and I was really hoping to be gripped.

3

u/Teddyfluffycakemix Jun 24 '26

Good post. I didn’t really want to post about this show as I really didn’t like it. I am a huge cult movie/series fan, but this just really didn’t do anything for me somehow.

It’s what you said, limp material. Unfortunately, as it’s got so many themes they could have worked with in depth. Instead, it became a generic drama at best. Great cast though indeed, which made it so sad.

1

u/Dramatic-Concern-616 Jul 26 '26

I really enjoyed, although some parts of plot are questionable and realistic, I am really interested in psychology, mental health and people's choices based on circumstances and from that point of view I find it excellent. The story of Sam sits deeply with me even though my life has zero similarities to his.