Kleo (2022– ) User Reviews

Quite good

[satin-48250 · 8/10 · 22 August 2022]

Dark humour. Often farcical killings. A German mix between Nikita and Kill Bill.

Jella Haase is very good here.

The choice of music scores is spot on.

Entertaining and fun.

Nice Surprise Hit

[Duli_van_Son · 8/10 · 19 August 2022]

I may be biased as I am a middle aged German. I am used to a lot of bull from my country. But this one has a nice pace, good story, some slapstick, it is well thought through and has a great production value. It is way over a believable state but it is totally entertaining to watch.

A wild ride with good actors.

I hope the localizations can translate this to a wide audience. Just relax and have fun.

'Deutschland 89' with laughs

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 2 September 2022]

This eight part German comedy-drama opens in 1987. Kleo, an assassin working for East German State Security, the Stasi, goes on a mission to West Berlin where she kills her target in a night club. The authorities there believe the dead man overdosed but a single policeman, Sven, who saw Kleo prior to the death believes it was murder and provides a sketch. Nobody takes him seriously but a copy of his sketch makes its way to the East. Here Kleo finds herself arrested on trumped up charges. She is jailed and remains there until the wall comes down two years later. Once released she is determined to get revenge on all those who betrayed her and determine why they did it. Meanwhile Sven sees her picture among files of recently released Eastern political pictures and it determined that he will arrest her for the 1987 murder.

I really enjoyed this series; it blended drama with humour successfully and is set at an interesting time in German history; the short time between the wall of the wall and reunification of the two Germanys. The humour doesn't get in the way of the drama; much of it is provided by Kleo's accidental housemate Thilo, a perma-stoned West German, who claims to be from the planet Sirius B, planning to introduce techno music to the East before returning home, and at other times is fairly subtle, like the squeaky footwear Kleo wears on one job. The drama works too; there are plenty of tense moments and even a degree of tragedy. The cast is solid; especially Jella Haase as Kleo, Dimitrij Schaad as Sven and Julius Feldmeier as Thilo. Overall I'd certainly recommend this.

These comments are based on watching the series in German with English subtitles.

Superb.

[krzysiektom · 9/10 · 23 August 2022]

This is a tremendous surprise. For me it's one of the most entertaining shows I've watched on streaming, be it Netflix, Amazon Prime or HBO Max. Excellent writing, acting and direction. The actress playing Kleo is very, very good. Plus good production quality - locations, costumes, cars... And it's not just a comedy thriller about a killer trained by the former GDR, it's an accusation of that dehumanising political system and how it ruined lives and corrupted characters. Highly recommended.

Unexpected Surprise

[WordsworthStone · 8/10 · 20 August 2022]

Went into this with no expectations, just the usual of Netflix's reprints of global content, hits and misses.

Off the first episode, I thought, Cold-War spy thriller, I'm still in. Then they started the real exposition. I definitely felt some, Villainelle, in the protagonist, but how else can you present a slightly sociopathic Eastern Bloc assassin on a revenge quest?

Well. With. Wit. Daft. Surreal. Nostalgia. Heartbreak. Quirk. Pathos. Spies. Misdirect. Socialist. Comedy.

Each episode raises the stakes in thriller AND dark comedy.

Worth a binge. Hopefully, Netflix won't pull this show from a second season--it's definitely setup for one.

Quentin Tarantino meets Deutschland 89

[Erik_Surewaard · 7/10 · 19 August 2022]

I am a big fan of the Deutschland-83, -86 and -89 shows that have been released on Amazon Prime in the past years. Those shows are about the Stasi, the secret service of East-Germany. This in the times just before and after the Berlin Wall fell.

In Kleo - released by Netflix - you get a similar atmosphere of the above-mentioned Deutschland-shows: the look-and-feel just transports you back to the end of the 80's and beginning of the 90's.

What is however totally different is the dark humour that is included in Kleo. The screenwriters clearly were inspired a lot by the movies of Quentin Tarantino. I see especially back elements of Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill.

When I started to watch the show, I really was very sceptical during the first episode. I honestly have to admit that during the first 15 minutes I had no clue of what to make of this show. But when I was in the second episode, I was sold to the show. It is absolutely a more than worthwile watch.

I should also note the surprising good acting of the main actor Jella Haase. She really does an outstanding job. This since she had to play al lot of different roles as a assassin in disguise. I truly enjoyed how she played all those different roles...

East Germany meets Kill Bill with a twist

[RSt_2022 · 8/10 · 11 September 2022]

Throw together Kill Bill, Killing Eve, the 80s, the 90s, rolled up blazers, techno space ships, a red suitcase, Jellla Haase, Dimitrij Schaad, and East Germany.

Mix it all up, shake it well, add some sunshine, palm trees, and over-the-top flame-throwing, and you come over to the other side of the Berlin Wall. With delight, excitement, entertainment and pure fun.

This is a wonderful retelling of parts of life in East Germany and some secrets that are just shy of being true. Maybe what you see is true. And maybe not. But then again when you're rolling with the punches with such mirth does it even matter?

To not watch this show is a mistake you must not make. Ignore Kleo at your own peril.

Auf Wiedersehen.

The story moves briskly and entertainingly

[steiner-sam · 7/10 · 15 September 2022]

It's a dark political comedy beginning in the late 1980s in East Berlin, just before the collapse of East Germany.

Kleo Straub (Jella Haase) is a young assassin who works for a special section of the Stasi (internal state security). On assignment, she kills someone in a nightclub in West Berlin. Soon thereafter, she is arrested by the Stasi and imprisoned. After the collapse of the wall and gaining her freedom, she sets out to determine what happened and why she was imprisoned.

Meanwhile, a low-level West German policeman, Sven (Dimitrij Schaad), who witnessed the nightclub assassination, pursues Kleo to seek justice. He gets so focused on following Kleo that he loses his job.

Through the episodes, we meet many characters from Kleo's world, including her former boss, Andi (Vladimir Burlakov), and her highly-placed grandfather, Generaloberst Otto Straub (Jürgen Heinrich). In addition, we meet competing spies/assassins and former high officials in the East German government.

As the bodies pile up, everyone is in pursuit of a red suitcase that holds deep secrets of international importance. The series ends ambiguously enough that a second season could follow.

The story moves briskly and entertainingly. Jella Haase is not a typical heroine type; observers who have compared her looks to a young Angela Merkel are persuasive. There are distractions. For example, Sven's friend, Thilo (Julius Feldmeier), seems to be a distraction. It's a decent watch if you like dark political humor.

Quirky and fun.

[Siggers · 9/10 · 26 August 2022]

Had to say I came across this whilst bored the other day, enjoyed it a lot, dark humour, captured the 80's quite well. Loved the lead actress.

Quirky like an 80's Killing Eve, binged it all.

Entertaining, far fetched but definitely different

[traceytak · 7/10 · 22 August 2022]

I wasn't sure what to expect, I had hoped it would be along the line of Deutschland series but this is not anything like it. It is not to be taken seriously. Something kept me watching it through to the end though even if parts were far fetched, didn't relate to the main story and not needed. 6 episodes instead of eight and those parts trying to hard to be funny removed would have made it a 9/10 and a much better series.

Simply AWESOME

[ambisai · 9/10 · 20 August 2022]

Who could imagine .....a timeless piece created!

First frame , and it envelopes you with intrigue.

Costumes , locations , music , actors .....everything thoroughly peaks !!!!

A true golden spy thriller.

bingeable and watchable for the female lead.

[sallap-53026 · 7/10 · 5 September 2022]

I enjoyed this show but not as much as other reviewers. The female lead is great but two of the male characters are beyond annoying. One is in his underwear for half the show and the other is always yelling. I found myself too often saying now why didn't they just do this. Why? Because the show would be over or, at least, taken a different course. One for instance hapens when an acquaintance of Kleo is kidnapped and the kidnapper shoots ut a tite from Kleo's car so she can't follow him. So why didn't she shoot out his tires?

'Still it was a fun watch and kept moving along with a few surprises along the way. Worth a view.

Great start and getting worse by each episode

[krisztianv · 5/10 · 28 August 2022]

Just like most Netflix series, it starts out great/good and it is getting worse and worse with each episode and a terrible ending... Netflix is trying to make everything at least 8 episodes thus filling them with stupid, pathetic and unrealistic events with idiotic conversations and adding idiotic characters with no purpose at all to fill the gaps rather than making them 4-6 episodes and keeping them enjoyable.

Also, why is it necessary to have pathetic, lunatic, clumsy characters in every series/movie even if it is a drama or a thriller?

Another disappointment although it could've been a good one...

Das ist gut!

[grakky · 10/10 · 4 September 2022]

Ok all right I was trying to be cute with the title but yes this is a really good and highly entertaining cold war spy series, do not shy away from English voice dubbing or you will miss out.

The East/West era sets are amazingly accurate and the script does really well with conveying actions as well as words. Netflix did good on this one.

There is a revenge journey and you must travel with her, it will be a good journey. There is no dragging storyline between episodes, each ine leaves you wanting to see the next one, it is very binge worthy.

I also have a new obsession with Kleo aka Jella Haase, she is very captivating :)

KILLING KLEO

[alanl06-662-77020 · 7/10 · 30 August 2022]

Great series from Germany that owes more than a nod to UK series Killing Eve ( or possibly vice-versa ) . Either way neither suffer from the comparisons and both stand on their own merits . Don't want to give anymore info other than you can look forward to lots of twists and turns as with its British counterpart. Great storyline, plot and performances from the entire cast especially KLEO and her bumbling detective would be nemesis Well worth watching . Plenty of action with thumping soundtrack and a few surreal leaps of fantasy. Not over long and no padding Even if you are someone who is not keen on subtitles you should give it a try . ENJOY.

Amazing performances from the leads.

[gnatsong · 10/10 · 24 August 2022]

Not always a fan of German drama, this was a wonderfully written story with the most charismatic lead assassin character since The Professional from years ago. Stunning performance from the lead, her compatriot, and her foils. This series was magical, with humor, with heart.

Tons of style, very little substance

[inc-133-70013 · 6/10 · 3 February 2023]

The main thing with "Kleo" is that Jella Haase is one of the cutest human beings ever appeared on a screen and can sport every haircut and outfit, just like an ideal spy should. She plays her role really well, too.

Sadly, that's the long and short of it. "Kleo" explodes with style, from carefully documenting the rise of dance music to the mess of post-Berlin-wall Germany and clash of opposing ideologies; the sets are amazing and so is the soundtrack.

But the actual plot is... almost non-existent. There's classical revenge tale, some globetrotting, a lot of Joker-ish violent insanity, and characters that feel like they're ripped straight out of one of the Quentin Tarantino movies. Sadly, it's not enough. The suspense doesn't really hold, the drama is extremely weak, and even though the show should be also "a comedy", well, if a *German* show makes you laugh, you're extremely lucky or easy to entertain. At best, it's mildly amusing at times.

Then again, as I said, Jella Haase IS one of the cutest human beings ever appeared on a screen. At least that's a good reason to watch an episode or two.

A movie well thought through

[plupu66 · 10/10 · 19 October 2022]

When I started watching the film I was not sure what to expect. A thriller? A comedy? Drama? Sadness? Spoof? Historical significance? Phantasy? A parable? Political commentary? Insight into the east-west divide?

Well, I found all of the above and more.

One has to watch the whole thing to make sense of the film's message. Don't be fooled by the 007 action and some of the comedic elements - the film is dead serious.

Yes, one has to suspend one's disbelief one quite a few occasions, look up some characters (inspired from real life and portrayed with a dose of artistic license), but it is worth seeing every minute of the 8 episodes. In the end you won't know whether to laugh or cry - or just ponder the meaning of the terms "good guys" and "bad guys".

If you like Hollywood fare, this one will probably disappoint you. (The "top 1000 voters" gave it an average of 5.9; the "non-US voters" gave it on average 7.5 . Enough said.)

It was not bad!

[DunkelheitVZ · 6/10 · 23 August 2022]

But there were a lot of things that kept the overal score down:

• Even in the end I did not really know why she needed to go to prison, she was loyal, she did what she was asked to do and did nothing wrong
• The series would have done better with less episodes, because after episode 3-4 it loses a lot of steam and momentum
• very unrealistic fight and shooting scenes
• too much plot armor

I could name more, but I am bored already.

Why was I imprisoned?

[jgardiner-871-726729 · 8/10 · 8 September 2022]

I wasn't really in the mood to write a review but I enjoyed this short series so much. Mentally it just keeps you guessing the whole time. She was trained since childhood to be an assassin. She was emotionally manipulated by her grandfather. Except that I never really believed that he was her grandad. Turns out his was.

Then she was totally controlled by the man she loved whom I always believed was really the man in charge of her many missions. He tried to kill her so many times.

Then they chucked her in prison for the rest of her life. Then what happens is that the government of East Germany falls and all political prisoner like her were freed after three years.

She set out to find out why she was imprisoned leaving a trail of dead bodies behind her. She was seeking the reason for her imprisonment. When she had carried out all of her orders exactly.

This set us on the trail of the red suitcase. Turns into a very interesting search.

Loved the series. Her friend from the Dog planet was a bit of a side issue. Watch it. It will keep you on your toes from beginning to end.

Killing Eve vibes...

[daleshi · 6/10 · 20 August 2022]

Good production and acting, just way too condensed for eight episodes. Maybe it started with a Villanelle-like character circa '89 Germany concept, and the first few episodes showed a lot of promise, but it quickly went off on short-lived tangents that could have been developed over multiple seasons.

So, you get something quite rushed, albeit enjoyable enough for a binge with no expectations or serious investment in characters. It's just a shame since there is a lot of potential with the time period and setting.

It can't pull off the tonal shifts

[fraser-simons · 4/10 · 30 August 2022]

The core story is compelling enough, she's a convincing enough character and the fights are alright, but there's these weird comical shifts that just make everything seem stupid, usually when the tension is highest too. I just don't think it works, or serves a clear purpose either, really. It's not very good with the comedy, but I'm not European, so maybe it'd just a cultural thing. Either way, I gave it two episodes and then quit. When she starts doing sumo wrestling with some guy, it's a hard no from me. Why this is 8 episodes too, I'll never know. What is with this propensity to have shows drag out absolutely everything.

Kleo can play Merkel next time ...

[tim-31315 · 8/10 · 26 August 2022]

.... here she plays brilliantly a Stasi killer.

Just a touch into being a comedy without being obtuse.

If one does not take it too seriously, this is all good fun!

Very entertaining and keeps you wanting it to go on

[consultinggroupusa · 9/10 · 24 August 2022]

Truly an enjoyable show that didn't matter that it was in German. The young lady that played Kleo was so much fun to watch and "Sven" was a great sidekick.

Hope they do a year 2, seems the energy continued during the ending credits.

The translation was well done.

Pippi Longstocking meets Jason Bourne

[mdm-11 · 6/10 · 2 September 2022]

As someone who has lived his coming of age years during the 1980s in the city of Berlin, I was instantly fascinated by the authentic sets, fashions and general "feeling" of what it was like to experience the final moments of the ever-present Cold War. Those parts were captured very realistically. High marks for that part of the production values. The opening episode is action packed and sets up the main theme: Our protagonist Kleo, a young "special forced agent" for the STASI (Secret Police) wants to know why she has apparently been "sold out" by her peers and left to rot in jail, just as she had completed another one of many successful missions (assassinations). After many months behind bars, Kleo is suddenly released, along with all other political prisoners, because the "Berlin Wall" has fallen, and the old GDR is no more.

Exciting introduction. The story quickly takes outrageously far fetched tangents. Several loopy supporting characters show up with their strange personalities and matching actions. A self-proclaimed "alien from another planet", who squats in one of many suddenly abandoned East German apartments is determined to open his own Techno-Disco. Another weirdo is Kleo's peer, a fellow graduate from the "special training school", who is holding a grudge for never quite matching Kleo's performance record. Kleo's Grandfather is a "higher up" in the Communist Party and a devout believer in the cause, to the point of having his own daughter, and eventually even Kleo arrested.

Without giving away more details, I do need to note that the constant and often completely gratuitous violence becomes tiresome; the fact that there never seems to be any consequences (or even acknowledgement) of arbitrary killings of human beings is unappealing. The many forced little jokes predicating and following a killing are almost cartoonish. "May I please kill just one more? Pretty please?" - Sorry, not funny! I also find it quite incredible, how this moderately attractive Kleo is able to instantly seduce any young man she decides to "toy with". That's not realistic. We are also made to believe how brilliant these "secret agents" are, then find that each and every one of them is constantly and repeatedly tricked and deceived by everyone else. As a fan of this genre and of movies in general, I'm just not buying it. There are also several scenes with prolonged partial nudity without logic or even dialog, adding nothing to the plot. Why was that necessary?

My favorite moment comes near the end, when "Aunt Margot" examines her precious suitcase. It's an "inside joke" that almost all Germans of my age will appreciate. - I binge-watched "Kleo". I was entertained, but not "thrilled" with this series. The "pay off" takes away some of the unpleasant taste, making the final product worthwhile.