# Dead Places (2021)

> A paranormal-case author returns to South Africa to reopen the drowning of his sister twenty years earlier.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/101865

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: mystery, drama
- Created by: Gareth Crocker
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Zondwa Mditshwa, Altovise Lawrence, Shamilla Miller, Anthony Oseyemi, Rea Rangaka, Shalom Nyandiko, David Butler, Gregg Viljoen
- TMDB rating: 6.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13831266/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: melancholic, brooding, eerie, tense

## What critics say

Audience reception is mixed, with a strong first-season rating from a small number of viewers and a modest overall audience score.

## Synopsis

Dead Places (2021) is a South African mystery drama series created by Gareth Crocker for Netflix. Its single season of eight hour-long episodes follows an author who has built his career solving paranormal cases and who returns home to investigate the biggest mystery of his life, the death of his sister in a water canal two decades earlier. The character at the center is Will, played by Anthony Oseyemi, while Zondwa Mditshwa plays Young Will, and the cast also includes Altovise Lawrence as Max, Shamilla Miller as Kelly, Rea Rangaka as Joe and Gregg Viljoen as Benjamin. The engine of the show is a skeptic's pursuit of the truth: he wants answers about his sister, but the past keeps resurfacing through old acquaintances, half-remembered childhood moments and a community that would rather let the water keep its secrets. Each episode peels back another layer through flashbacks and present-day interviews, so viewers piece together a story rooted in personal grief. Set in contemporary South Africa, the series has a brooding, melancholic atmosphere in which everyday locations carry an eerie unease. Fans of Twin Peaks and The Haunting of Hill House will find resonance in its mix of supernatural suggestion, family trauma and slow-burning investigation.

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