Chick flick miniseries

"Drops of God" is a fantastical story set on a backdrop of wine tasting in France, Italy, and Japan. The dialog is in French, Italian, Japanese and English, so subtitles are a must. It's from Apple TV, but woke elements are minor.

The premise is that a woman must win a competition involving wine tasting in order to claim her father's inheritance. Previously, she had only tasted wine once in her life, while her adversary is a Japanese professional wine taster.

Fortunately, our Mary Sue has a superpower: a bloodhound-like sense of smell, drilled into her from a young age by her father's training. Unfortunately, alcohol is her kryptonite, provoking a pseudo-allergic life-threatening reaction. Of course, she finds a way to overcome that problem, or it would have been a very short miniseries.

This Mary Sue is nevertheless flawed: hyperemotional and girlish. (Or maybe she's just French?) Her adversary is a closed Japanese man. He is a male Mary Sue, if you like, also intensively trained in smell and taste senses, but later in life.

The plot lies in an "uncanny valley" between two extremes: realistic and absurd. The story unfolds believably in many ways, yet fantasy-like in others. I am left feeling uneasy.

Much of the film is based on science, albeit with artistic license. For example, our hero experiences synesthesia, often perceiving smell visually or as music. Her alcohol-induced nosebleeds arise from PTSD. I loved that the director showed her using a "memory palace", without dialog to explain the concept. Also, it is well known that exposure to at least one foreign language needs to happen before puberty for fluency in foreign languages, which makes semi-plausible this woman's "fluency" in scents due to childhood training.

On the woke front, I can overlook the Mary Sue trope, interracial sex (off-camera), a black female French doctor, the sadistic father, and the unflattering portrayal of husbands (one womanizer, one cuck, one wife-abandoner). To me, it feels like storytelling as opposed to virtue-signalling. Am I wrong?

The ending contrasts with the rest of the eight episodes. My wife loved it. I did not.

Overall, I recommend this mini-series. It is a "chick flick" that nevertheless can be enjoyable for men due to the interesting locations and oenology.