Bates Motel
2013
Original language: English
- drama
- crime
- mystery
The story
A "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film Psycho, depicting the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in Hitchcock's film, albeit in a different fictional town and in a modern setting. The series begins after the death of Norma's husband, when she purchases a motel located in a coastal Oregon town so she and Norman can start a new life.
What it’s like
Dim, rain-slicked Pacific Northwest light with a moody, desaturated palette: grey coastal skies, weathered motel signage glowing sickly red-amber at dusk, and interiors lit by lamps and flickering vacancy signs. The camera tends toward slow, deliberate framing and lingering close-ups on faces, with a restrained, brooding score that swells into tension and then drops into unnerving quiet. Its vibe is tense, claustrophobic melancholy, best suited to a late-night watch alone or a wet weekend when you want to sit inside a bleak atmosphere. The pacing builds slowly through small-town routines, with long stretches of quiet domestic friction broken by sudden jolts. Its emotional register is uneasy and intimate, following a fiercely protective, controlling mother and her increasingly fragile son as their bond curdles under pressure. Intensity is considerable: there are murders and graphic violence, some sexual content and drug use, and a steady undercurrent of dread that lands harder than the gore alone. It suits viewers who want psychological tension, family drama and a dark mystery, not anything gentle.
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