The Coyotes – Netflix Series Review

THE COYOTES on Netflix is a limited series from Belgium. It’s a genre-bender, but the characters are just too stereotypical for my taste. A shame since Belgian series on Netflix usually excel in that area. Read our full The Coyotes series review here!

THE COYOTES is a new Netflix series from Belgium. Before episode 1 is over, you’ll have met a whole lot of characters. However, whether you’ll like any of them is another thing. I found them to be very lightly fleshed out and rather stereotypical.

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Continue reading our The Coyotes series review below. The limited series has six 45-minute episodes and all are out on Netflix now.

I just wanted more!

As mentioned above, I was not happy with the characters in The Coyotes (which is simply called Coyotes on IMDb). This was probably the last thing I expected since other Belgian series on Netflix have brilliant characters. Flawed and surprising characters that are wonderfully fleshed out in realistic ways.

It comes across as a teen drama in many ways. And not a good one! I have no problem with teen main characters. Not in the least bit. However, I do expect the story to still be strong.

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For the record, the acting is fine, so I can’t blame the young actors. This is all about a weak story that just did not hit home with me. At all.

A summer camp for scouts… but what’s the point?!

We begin with a group of scouts (who call themselves “coyotes”, hence the title), but this is just to have a setting away from home. Also, this summer camp setting isn’t really used that much.

Instead, we see the characters getting involved with people in the nearby city and traveling to big cities. It just felt messy and like many missed opportunities.

Even the lighting is often strange. In part, because night scenes are shot in sunlight while using a “blue filter”. When some of the background characters are wearing sunglasses at night, it’s usually a dead giveaway!

However, lighting is a production issue that I can live with if everything else works. I just didn’t feel that much worked for this series. Virtually every aspect of any storyline (and there are quite a few) also felt forced and fake.

Watch the Coyotes series on Netflix now!

The Coyotes was created by Vincent Lavachery, Axel du Bus, and Anne-Lise Morin. All three have writing experience on their IMDb pages, but not much. I’m not saying this is an issue, but the end result here just isn’t very strong.

Also, while The Coyotes is officially labeled a “drama” on IMDb, Netflix is giving a more accurate description by including Thriller. In fact, they call it a “thriller series” and have given it a 16+ rating. That’s not because it’s scary really, but it does include drugs and violence.

And also, the scariest thing of all when it comes to ratings; Any kind of sexual activity. Still, remember that the main characters are teens and it’s (mostly) rather innocent. In reality, The Coyotes is a genre-bender, but the characters and storyline didn’t work for me. Regardless of the genre!

With The Coyotes series on Netflix, just about everything felt strangely off from the very first episode. And it didn’t get better.

The Coyotes has six episodes and all are released on Netflix from December 2, 2021. 

Details

Creators: Axel du Bus de Warnaffe, Vincent Lavachery, Anne-Lise Morin
Stars: Louka Minella, Kassim Meesters, Sarah Ber, Dara Tombroff, Victoria Bluck, Olivia Castanho, Anas El Marcouchi, Steve Driesen