Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
A special-ops team is dispatched to fight supernatural beings that have taken over a European city.
Spectral is a serviceable sci-fi military thriller with a decent visual concept — translucent, ghost-like plasma-based enemies — but it never fully capitalizes on its intriguing premise. The plot follows a fairly predictable arc of investigation-to-action with thin character development. The acting is competent but unremarkable, led by James Badge Dale doing solid work in an underwritten role. Cinematography is polished given its Netflix production budget, with serviceable action staging but nothing visually distinctive. The novelty is limited — it blends familiar military sci-fi tropes (Black Hawk Down aesthetic meets supernatural threat) without a truly fresh angle. The ending resolves things too neatly and conveniently, undermining whatever tension had built up.