"Marchlands" starts as a story with supernatural and mystery elements. It follows three families, each in one different decade -the 60s, the 80s and 2010- who live in the same house at different points. The drama unfolds when a little girl, Alice Bowen, is found dead in a lake, leaving distraught parents, Paul and, especially, Ruth, the mother who cannot let go of the memory of the lost child because she suspects something is left to be explained about her daughter's death. The ghost or presence of the dead little girl seemingly cannot find peace either, as she starts to inhabit the house and keep the mystery alive for all three families who live there.
The ghost or presence of the dead girl will serve as a guiding plot motif as we slowly learn more and more about the circumstances of her death. But "Marchlands" wouldn't be the excellent story that it is if it were just that. The ghost of Alice also serves as a driving element for the non-supernatural part of the drama to develop: how the Bowens cope with the loss of their child, and the several conflicts that arise between the parents as well as with the father's parents; how the 80s family, the Maynards, try to solve their own problems and their declining marriage, especially when their little daughter finds a "secret friend" in the new house whom nobody else can see; and how Shelley and Elliot, the young couple who have just moved in, find new challenges in their relationship as well as within each one.
The human drama is the richest element and the most thought-provoking, but it is, above all, so true and full of emotions and situations that anyone can probably relate to.
A special mention goes to the setting in each of three different years. You can tell that they took great care in making it look and feel as realistic and possible. The 80s setting got my attention most, as it was especially well done down to the least detail.
My score is 10/10.
