User reviews

Being enormous fans of Italian films and TV-series, my wife and I were instantly hooked to "The Miracle" as per the opening sequences of the first episode. It's the perfect combination of everything: the amazingly beautiful theme song ("Il Mondo" by Jimmy Fontana), the curiously captivating premise of the Madonna statue that cries copious gallons of blood, the convoluted characters (including a struggling Italian prime minister, his estranged wife and a rather unusual priest), the stellar performances of the entire cast, the slow-brooding but ominous atmosphere and the patient but excessively stylish direction.

The series follows a certain pattern as the episodes pass by, with the events leading up to the discovery of the statue at the beginning of each installment, and several parallel storylines unfolding throughout the series. Prime minister Pietromarchi desperately attempts to keep the blood-crying Madonna out of the media while politically battling to keep his country within the European Union. How contemporary accurate and relevant, by the way! His cynical and unhappy wife Sole detests the angelic Polish nanny whom her children respect more than her. Forensic expert Sandra Roversi starts an obsessive search for the person whose DNA matches with the blood of the Madonna. Father Marcello acknowledges the miracle of the crying Madonna and considers it to be a hopeful sign for the decaying world, but he can't conquer his own inner demons.

When reaching episode six or seven, of a total of eight, you'll realize that "The Miracle" definitely won't be revealing all its secrets. Quite the contrary, there are so many unanswered questions bouncing back and forth in my brain! I won't raise them here to avoid spoilers, but I can only hope that a second season will be released soon. Still, in spite of all the loose ends and a few shortcomings here and there, "The Miracle" is one of the most addictive and hypnotizing European series of the decade.

Thought provoking series with interesting characters and nice soundtrack

A quality european production and though ending may not be everyone's cup of tea, it was cleverly done

It is not difficult to recognize distant echoes of Twin Peaks' Lynch, inspirations of House of Cards or elements of Suburra's political and criminal life. The camera therefore moves in an elegant, light way, demonstrating a certain personality on the part of the writer.

Starts off with one of the best 1st episodes that ive ever seen, last 2 episodes falls off, but overall this is in my top 10. Maybe on par with True Detective season 1.

I binge watched this series over two nights. I found it un-put-downable! Well acted and a most original idea. You don't get a nice tidy satisfying ending so loved by certain audiences but you are left to make of it what you will. You might find yourself thinking "well why did this happen/or not happen" but overall I was too busy watching to try and pre-empt the ending. In fact it is so nice to watch something where you can't actually predict where it is going. Life isn't full of happy endings.

Loved this, compulsive viewing. Great acting, very atmospheric.. lots of things going on in the storyline so hope there is a second series. Watch with subtitles (unless you speak Italian) forget the dubbed version 😬 Made me want to go back to Italy 🇮🇹

"Il miracolo" will remind you of Sorrentino's marvellous series "The young pope" for its themes, while neither for the craftmanship nor for the poetry. Unfortunately the inspired idea of exploring the misterious ways in which a miracle might manifest itself, gets lost in a lot of "technical weaknesses" which is far from ideal.

The screenplay, the acting, and the overall believability of most storylines are filled with problems. And I'm not talking about the non-realism of the main miracolous happenings: those OFC need to be accepted beforehand and are managed more than fine. The hurdles actually lie in what the characters say, what they do, how they think. In particular, from a "procedural" POV, how the prime minister family, his entourage or the police behave.

5-10 clever scenes (in 8, 45mins episodes) don't prevent a general feeling of a very b-movieish production. Which in some way prejudicially impede the viewer from entering a deeper perspective (surely meant to be by the authors) where events represent a puzzle through which the divine reveals itself. When you can't suspend the disbelief, it's close to impossible to abandon yourself into such a state.

Finally, in a certain sense, the best storylines result those that are less explored and it's a little slow too (couldn't avoid watching it at 1,5x).

Nice music (the opening has one of the most beautiful pop songs ever written: "Il mondo" by Jimmy Fontana) and ok photography. Not a great show, but a solid 6 for a mistery-drama (which means you'll probably like it, if you like the genre).

Whilst I could recommend this just on the fantastic opening shots, the whole series is incredible! The music choices are inspired and certainly add to the atmosphere of this unusual series.

Easily the BEST TV series I have seen for a very long time, perhaps ever. And soooo Italian, in a good way. Naturally natives may well disagree, personally only a diletant, at best. Anyway, have to congratulate all those involved in the production, well done!

Overplayed, with bad music, losing itself in countless parallel stories that get nowhere, the first six épisodes build up a really interesting canvas that totally fails with the two last ones. An absolute waste of time for such a conclusion (and that acting....)

Excellent stylish well shot dark drama with a good soundtrack

Great series. The acting was so good it's almost like I didn't need the subtitles. The wife and daughter were outstanding. I would have given a 10 but the priest was unbearable to watch and I almost, but didn't, fast forward through his scenes.

If Kafka had been a director, he would certainly have liked this series. Both magical and realistic, wonderful actors and well shot. Can't wait for the sequel.

I was addicted from the getgo. Brilliant acting - dark, sexy and makes you think long after watching it. Best series seen for a while.

Music, acting, plot just wonderfully orchestrated. Best series i have watched since 'the young pope'. Fingers crossed for season 2

Started interesting, but this was a bit waste, sorry. I don't have to know the cause of everything, but really!!

Having watched this over 2 days and having enjoyed it very much the end wasn't what I hoped for but if there is a god there will be more to come. So let's not give up on what could develop into a truly great series.

Incredible Italian drama from Sky Italy and Arte France. Why can't Sky make intelligent sophisticated drama like this in the UK?

An innovative and engrossing story following a number of key characters brilliantly acted and styled (well it IS Italian) with a gripping plot that unfolds suspensefully from episode to episode, taking you on an unexpected and challenging journey leading to a brilliant conclusion that can end there and that's it or equally lead into a second season.

Let's hope there's going to be one!

Another fabulous show from Sky Italy!

It shame's lame itv / bbc1 quality Sky UK.

Totally Sky Atlantic / HBO / Showtime worthy.

The user reviews really swayed me to jump onto this series; however, 10 minutes into it and I'm already struggling and not sure whether to go on and push past what feels badly dubbed into generic English and wooden acting. I'd rather listen to The Archers on radio4! If it was originally cast in Italian, I'd rather the original sounds and read subtitles, even if subtitles could be a little distracting if it's got fast paced action. Will try to get through the first episode and see if I feel any differently.