Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood
By Jenny Nixon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Boozy and at times bloody violent period drama has nudity.
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Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood
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What's the Story?
OKTOBERFEST: BEER & BLOOD is set in 1900 Munich as rich and mysterious brewmeister Curt Prank (Misel Maticevic) arrives in town with a plan to evict local brewers from their small stalls so he can erect a giant 6,000-capacity beer hall of his own. If he needs to murder, bribe, or scheme to make it happen, so be it. His dream project is soon complicated by the appearance of his headstrong, fun-loving daughter Clara (Mercedes Müller), who has the nerve to embark on an illicit romance with Roman (Klaus Steinbacher), the son of a rival family: the down-on-their-luck but determined Hoflinger clan.
Is It Any Good?
Despite the show's title, the "blood" isn't nearly as ubiquitous as the title suggests -- the focus is more on the cultural changes afoot and on the Romeo and Juliet-styled romance of Clara and Roman. This certainly isn't the first time we've seen a Hatfield-and-McCoy style forbidden romance cause problems for warring families, and Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood doesn't exactly introduce anything new to that formula. That being said, the acting here is uniformly good, the writing decent enough, and the production values pretty darn excellent -- so if you don't mind the paint-by-numbers story and can vibe with the old-timey, pseudo-historical setting, you could definitely do worse.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about other films, books, and TV shows that feature family rivalries as a major theme. How does Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood compare?
How have attitudes toward women and people of color changed since the early 1900s? How might these characters' situations change if this story took place now?
Did this show introduce you to parts of German culture you were previously unfamiliar with? Did you have any existing cultural notions that were reinforced?
TV Details
- Premiere date: October 1, 2020
- Cast: Misel Maticevic , Martina Gedeck , Klaus Steinbacher , Mercedes Müller , Brigitte Hobmeier , Michael Kranz
- Network: Netflix
- Genre: Drama
- TV rating: TV-MA
- Last updated: February 18, 2023
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