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Transatlantic, the new Netflix series based on The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer, is a heartwarming series depicting the heroic efforts of ‘real-life” American Varian Fry and his cadre of British Intelligence operatives helping refugees escape the Nazi persecution of intelligentsia, artists and ‘enemies of the state’ escape to the United States during the early days of WWII.

It is a visually sumptuous throwback to classic Hollywood melodramas deftly directed by Stephanie Chuat, Veronique Reymond and Mia Meyer. Set predominantly in the Vichy French port of Marseilles in 1940, it chronicles the efforts, oft unsuccessful and rife with cliffhanging twists and turns, of the American-based Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC.)

The cast is superb on every level with every actor providing richly nuanced characters. The three central characters, Varian Fry, the head of the ERC, Mary Jane Gold, the American heiress bankrolling the efforts and Albert Hirschman, the Jewish refugee recruited into the circle of British operatives, are truly award-worthy actors that deliver brilliantly; Cory Michael Smith as Varian, Gillian Jacobs as Mary Jane and Lucas Englander as Albert.

Although the writers and directors took literary license by including fictional characters and events, this is a compelling slice of overlooked history and is a must-watch series.

Humbly submitted by your erstwhile critic, Quoth the Maven, Always More.