‘Magenta Coal’ (2023) Netflix Series Review - Hunger Games

Magenta Coal is a South African series about the Nkosi clan and the company they own. We’re shown three families working for the company. They all want to see their kids as the next CEO and the owner. Zeb is the chief currently and his wife Matilda is great at playing games and scheming. She is a tireless villain who needs at least one bad deed to get a good sleep. Zeb’s three sons Sandile, Khumbulani, and Mangaliso are in the run of handling the next big project. The daughter of the family, Fezeka is a lesbian and works at her studio.

Matilda didn’t want Fezeka’s sexuality to be known to the world and this reflected her decades-old ideologies. Well, Fezeka didn’t want any part and wanted to live a good life with her partner Sophie. Muzi works with Zeb, and he’s Zeb’s childhood friend. Aurora is in the Nkosi clan. They both have their motives and Muzi’s wife also tries to be a part of the scheming by seducing Zeb’s son Sandile.

What remains to be seen is who’ll be the winner of this game and if the writer of the series will give any rest to all the plotting. The six episodes of Magenta Coal are about the fight to get to the top of the company. The average duration of the episodes is 40 minutes, and it is about the endless fights in the Nkosi clan. Nobody is your friend when the game you’re fighting for is for acquiring the top position.

The first episode failed to make the audience understand what it was about. There are so many things going on simultaneously that I lost track of the plot. The subplots should have been included one by one rather they were dumped all at once at the audience. Hadn’t it been for reviewing the series, I think that I would have lost my interest in the first episode itself.

What I saw in the subsequent episodes was constant attacks and lies. Matilda, the wife of the Chief of the clan is too shady. She tries to pull the strings of the company. At first, I didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. Matilda was always trying to maintain the reputation of the family while getting her hands dirty.

There are constant talks about the image of the clan that makes things exaggerated. Also, what was with Ethel, the maid? The way she bends over to serve drinks and food makes you believe that we live in a medieval world.

Magenta Coal is about a family that is fighting and plotting to get their hold on the company about which we’re told next to nothing. The actors have put in their best and the South African series did a nice job at the casting.

I was satisfied with the pace at which the plot moved, considering that it just had six episodes. There were moments when I got tired of watching all the evil things shown and felt that it would be a breath of fresh air if some good deeds were also shown.

The series tried to portray a sort of mafia family who was in huge trouble, however, the enemies the clan had on the outside were far less than the insiders. I was unable to comprehend why Muzi was comfortable with his wife flirting with Sandile. Even in such a competitive world, morals didn’t seem to have any place.

For me, Magenta Coal is a series that was almost worth a watch but got ruined due to several things like a very fast-paced plot and mismanagement with the subplots.

Final Score – [6.5/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
Follow @_riyasinghhh_ on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times