Sunday marks the one-year anniversary ofNicolas Winding Refn’s incredible crime seriesToo Old to Die Young, which is one of the best things Amazon has ever released, and yet, so few have actually seen it. Thankfully, shows don’t come with an expiration date, so even though what little cultural conversation there was aroundTOTDYhas long since moved on, the showisstill available to watch on the streaming service. Just use that ‘search’ function, because lord knows you won’t find it on any homepage.
There area lotofgood shows to watch right now, but we’re in the midst of a pandemic — yes, still — so Iknowyou’ve got the time to take some programming risks. I mean, if not now, then when?Too Old to Die Youngwon’t be for everyone. In fact, you’ll probably love it or hate it. You’ll either find it riveting, or incredibly boring. Both are fair descriptors. But at least then, you will have given this epic series a chance, something that Amazon didn’t even do, as the streamer always seemed to treat it like a mistake it was embarrassed by.
I’m not here to rehash the streamer’s missed opportunity, though. I’m here to give you 10 reasons whyToo Old to Die Youngis worth watching, one year after its quiet debut. So buckle up, buttercup, because this ride is about to get bumpy.
1. The Soundtrack
Yeah, this is probably the top reason to watchTOTDY, because the original score byCliff Martinezis absolutely divine. He’s the composer behind Refn’sDrive,Only God ForgivesandThe Neon Demon, and his work here is intense and other-worldly — the perfect companion to the lush visuals on display. While the angelic bliss of “Viggo and Diana” is probablythe standoutof the soundtrack, the original teaser trailer for this series was set to Martinez’s “Hennessy X.O. Is an Odyssey,” and for some reason I always hear that track in my head when I think of this series. It may have the same effect on you, soclick hereto give it a listen, or scroll to the bottom of this post for the officialTOTDYtrailer to get a sample of the show’s unique aural landscape.
2. Cristina Rodlo and Augusto Aguilar
These two actors absolutely blew me away, and casting directors should be keeping a close eye on both of them. Aguilar plays Jesus, the nephew of a Mexican cartel leader named Don Ricardo (Emiliano Diez) who is terminally ill. Don Ricardo sees his late sister Magdaleno in both her son and his own nurse, Yaritza (Rodlo), who the crime boss claims to have found in the desert. Do either ofthemknow who’s behind a string of vigilante killings that has cartel members spooked, and turning on the police they pay to protect them? Rodlo’s raw energy radiates off the screen and you can sense there’s something dangerous about her, almost like the scorpion that graced the back ofRyan Gosling’s jacket inDrive. Meanwhile, Aguilar does a stellar job balancing Jesus' innate sensitivity with his revenge-driven ruthlessness. Both of them are major finds, and I hope they get more opportunities when Hollywood is able to resume production.
3. The Cinematography
Darius Khondji shot half of theTOTDYepisodes, while rising starDiego Garciashot the other half, and any way you slice it with a samurai sword, this is agorgeousseries. In conjunction with Refn’s own, shall we say, darker creative instincts, Khondji and Garcia create their own colorful language onscreen, and different hues of neon really popped on my home TV. There are long stretches of this show without any dialogue, so a strong visual sense is important, and there’s no question thatTOTDYdelivers in that regard. Garcia previously shotApichatpong Weerasethakul’sCemetery of Splendor, and he has since gone on to shootMichael Mann’s HBO Max seriesTokyo VicestarringAnsel Elgort. Meanwhile, Khondji shotSe7enandPanic Roomfor directorDavid Fincher, and I really don’t think I need to say anything more than that. There’s stunning work in every episode.
4. Miles Teller and his Immediate Co-stars
Teller is an actor with impressive range, who can be very sensitive and internal when necessary (Rabbit Hole) or a loud-mouth party bro (21 & Over,Project X, etc). Here, he’s almost supernaturally quiet as the enigma that is Detective Martin Jones.
Jones' moral compass is off — that much is clear from the very first episode — but Teller still makes us root for this bastard, who, by the way, has a girlfriend in high school. That’s right… this cop is, technically, a sexual predator. So we know right off the bat that Refn isn’t too interested in making Martin a likable guy.Nell Tiger Freeis excellent as Martin’s underage girlfriend Janey, and I loved Hart Bochner as his wacky lieutenant.Lance Grossis terrifying in his brief screentime as Martin’s partner, and I appreciated supporting turns from bothJoanna CassidyandCallie Hernandez. That said, some of my favorite scenes in this scenes involved the LA crime boss Damian (Babs Olusanmokun) and his right-hand man Celestino (Celestino Cornielle), who work out of a hockey rink, and keep Martin on the payroll to do various jobs — jobs that become increasingly dangerous as the show unfolds.
5. The Pacing
I’m not going to lie,Too Old to Die Youngis pretty, pretty, pretty slow. It’s almost comical how often characters seem to wait 15 seconds between sentences. But once you get on the show’s level and in touch with its strange rhythms, I think you’ll get a lot more out of it. You simply have to know going in thatTOTDYis not paced like a traditional TV series, so consider this fair warning. The cliffhangers are few and far between, and yet there’s something oddly bingeable about this 758-minute series. While the finale runs a lean 31 minutes, there are three episodes over 90 minutes long, but time seems to slow down while watching this show, so you’ll likely be too entranced to notice the elongated running times. Could this show have used a heavy edit? Possibly. But you’ll be glad Refn let it breathe, because the anxiety can be a bit much.
6. John Hawkes and Jena Malone
Hawkes plays Viggo Larsen, a one-eyed former cop turned vigilante who hunts criminals and predators in our midst using information fed to him by Malone’s Diana DeYoung, a city social worker who tries to right the wrongs she sees every day. Viggo may be undergoing dialysis treatments, but he still serves as Diana’s loyal protector who does her bidding without question, Hawkes and Malone have a unique chemistry together and each of them proves why they’re among Hollywood’s top character actors. These two aren’t the stars of the show, but you won’t be able to take their eyes off of them when either is onscreen.
7. The Story
Too Old to Die Youngwas co-created by Refn and acclaimed comic book writerEd Brubaker, whose comic booksCriminal, as well asKill or Be Killedare awesome. The story ofToo Old to Die Youngis pretty damn good itself, but it’s more about the journey than the destination. Personally, I’m fascinated by crooked cops, and enjoyed watching Teller’s character suffer an existential crisis as he delves deeper into the deadly underground of Los Angeles, where Refn seems most at home. Sometimes, it takes an outsider to capture a certain vibe in America, and I appreciate Refn’s demented instincts as a storyteller.
8. The Violence
No sugarcoating:Too Old to Die Youngis spectacularly violent. See, the cartel doesn’t mind torturing those who stand in its way, while Teller and Hawkes' characters are hardly prudes themselves. So, by the end of this series, there are entire rooms left covered in blood. It can get graphic. There are several wild shootouts from assassins on motorbikes, and Damian is pretty handy with a piece himself. Even when this show isn’t reveling in violence, the sudden threat of violence lurks around every corner. It’s typically brief and explicit, and trust me, no one is spared from its far-reaching hand. And yet, as is often the case with Refn, there’s something beautiful and oddly poetic about the violence inTOTDY. It’s hard to explain, so you’ll just have to see it for yourself.
9. William Baldwin
Billy Baldwin, he ofBackdraftandFlatlinersfame, plays the father of Teller’s high school-aged girlfriend, and I would watch an entire series that was just about this guy. He’s unconscionably wealthy, and he has a sniffing tic (shared by my father and I) that is the kind of off-putting character choice that this series would naturally relish. At one point, Baldwin’s Theo masturbates in his home theater as Martin sits in the row behind him… Listen, there’s a lot of strange shit that takes place inToo Old to Die Young, but this character may very well be the strangest, which is saying something. God bless Billy Baldwin, though, for agreeing to “go there” in the first place. His commitment is both noted and appreciated.
10. The Porn Scene
If you want to know what you’re getting yourself into withTOTDY, I suggest you simply start with Episode 5, and if you have no interest in proceeding after the first seven minutes, then I wouldn’t blame you one bit. If youcanstomach that scene, you may be the kind of twisted viewer who Refn is aiming for.James Urbaniak(Difficult People) plays a pornographer who directs a young newcomer and asks him some very graphic questions. The menacing stillness of the actors behind Urbaniak is part of what makes the scene so terrifying, and the actor playing the scene’s victim, so to speak, is incredible, communicating his true feelings with just his eyes and body language even though his mouth and writing hand consent to everything that happens. This scene is not for the faint of heart, so if it’s not for you, the series may not be either.
Watch Amazon’s official trailer forToo Old to Die Youngbelow, and if you’re interested in a different perspective,click herefor our formal review, which calls the series “brilliant but tedious.” You can alsoclick herefor our interview with Refn, whose process is always fascinating.
