REVIEW: ‘Cassandra’ Tells A Twisted Tale Of Familial Longing

Cassandra, written and directed by Benjamin Gutsche, follows a family trying to make a fresh start after a tragedy strikes. Now, they are moving into a new home, which turns out to be Germany’s oldest smart home, complete with a robotic servant named Cassandra (Lavinia Wilson). But things quickly go wrong as Cassandra tries to make the family her own.

The initial setup of this six-part mini-series feels like a familiar thriller concept. As the family settles into their new home, Cassandra tries to worm her way into their lives as much as possible. With her eternally smiling visage adorning the screen on her robot body and TVs mounted in every room of the house, she does all she can to make the lives of most of the family easy.

The one exception is the mother, Samira (Mina Tander). Cassandra quickly turns against her, manipulating the rest of the family into thinking she’s crazy while threatening Samira’s life whenever she’s alone. The stark difference between what her family sees Cassandra as and what she really is soon has Samira struggling to be sure of what’s real and what’s not.

The embrace of silence over sound imbues much-needed tension in thrilling scenes.

This concept is one thrillers have explored more than once, albeit generally with a younger woman than a 50-year-old robot. One may expect the unique nature of the villain in this series to be what sets it apart the most; however, what comes to stand out the most is all of the twists and turns the series takes as it slowly reveals the motivations behind its unhinged antagonist. But it’s not just surprising twists that keep the viewer guessing, it’s how well the series comes to recontextualize itself.

When done right, recontextualizing a story can be one of the most potent narrative tricks in storytelling. It allows the story to cement a narrative, only then to reveal that what was told wasn’t the whole truth. This forces those who watch the series to be flexible and adaptive in their understanding of that narrative.

Another area where Cassandra shines is its pacing. Whether considering the series as a whole or a single scene, the show knows how long to hold a concept before moving on. It lets the build-up to terrifying moments linger just long enough to capture the right level of tension before releasing it. This build-up of tension is often aided by the series’ willingness to let silence occupy a scene. Leaving a moment with no distractions pushes the fear of what is coming to the forefront.

The shape that Cassandra’s hostility takes towards those who set themselves in her way is cleverly implemented. How she manipulates household appliances and uses her near-omniscient control of the house is well-thought-out. However, the character’s control over her world does leave enough loopholes in place, so overcoming her doesn’t require elements of her toolkit to stop working magically.

The acting is not great in Cassandra (2025)

The thoroughness of the plot’s explanation of Cassandra’s history even explains why someone would give the servant so much control over the house. Early episodes frequently left me questioning why someone would design a system this way, only to deliver full understanding by the time the series ends.

While the why of the scenario makes sense, the how is never addressed. Cassandra’s retrofuturistic design does a great job of aesthetically selling that she was created in the 1970s, but how someone could achieve a feat like this back then is never even acknowledged. It’s fiction, so you can suspend your disbelief, but without something to explain why this leap in technology is possible, it can be distracting at times.

The other major element that lets Cassandra down is its acting. Although never bad, the actors rarely drive home their roles with exceptional energy. They deliver strong enough performances not to hinder the work the other elements of the film do to build the tension, but they rarely notably add to the mixture.

Cassandra delivers an engaging narrative full of twists, reveals, and strongly crafted moments of suspense. It never manages to put the final piece or two together to be a truly great watch, but it still assembles a tale with enough power to be worth the time of anyone looking for a suspenseful story that is happy to leave them guessing until the very end.

Cassandra will be streaming on Netflix on February 6, 2025.