The OA

Seven years after having gone missing, a young woman resurfaces. She was blind when she disappeared, now she’s not. She was Prairie before, now she asks to be called “The OA.” And instead of telling the story of her disappearance to her family, the cops, reporters or an FBI therapist, she confides in a group of mismatched strangers who are told to meet her nightly in an abandoned house. That is the very basic setup for The OA, an addictive eight-episode dose of supernatural mystery that Netflix dropped in December. Created by Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling (who is mesmerizing as the sweet and trippy Prairie/OA), the show’s disjointed narrative moves all over the place—from the present to the past (all the way to Prairie’s childhood as well as through the terrifying reality of the circumstances surrounding her disappearance) and even to other dimensions. I recommend suspending disbelief and binging this weekend on this shocking, magical and bravely presented story.