Paper Girls Review: "Lost in translation from paper to screen"

Based on the hit graphic comic book series, the Paper Girls centers on four 12-year-old newspaper selling girls who unearth a shocking mystery that put them on a complicated time-travel adventure. They hop across different time periods, all of them leading into some baffling discoveries.

 

This is an exciting idea conceptualized by Fola Goak Pariola but the team of directors Georgie Banks Davis,Mairzee Almas, Destiny Ekaragha and Karen Gaviola fail.to conjure an equally intriguing narrative. Paper Girls gets lost somewhere in its translation. 

 

It starts off pretty well with the team of the four girls - Eric, Tiffany, Mac and KJ - getting cought in the crossfire between earring time travelers on the night of Halloween in 1988. It exudes the vibes of Stephen King's IT but slowly the episodes and their content get repetitive.There are surprise inclusions for the sake of the series adaptation but eventually it becomes predictable. In their pursuit of recreating a 'Stranger Things' of Prime Video, they end up coming with a paper-thin version of it.

 

As we progress, we find the same beats in the episodes with a familiar cat and mouse chases, but to give the credits where due,the performances by the girls stand out. They come across as super confident, camera-friendly and earnest.

 

If you are in mood for some character driven drama, then you may prefer binge watching the 8:episode series.If you are an action acolyte, you will be disappointed. The later episodes drift heavily from the source material and saddled with slow paced adventure that fails to shift gears and take off.