“What’s this? A review of a podcast?” I hear you say. “I thought you only really reviewed books?” you continue. Well, Case 63 impressed me so damn much I wanted to write a review about how good it was. Plus, it is just one of many of the fiction podcast genres which has shot to popularity recently with some massive names including DC and Marvel getting involved.
If you’ve never listened to a fictional podcast before, they’re not just people reading out a story – they’re full productions these days – like you’re listening to a film. They have background noises including all the sounds you need to hear to know what the actors are doing.
Case 63 was actually advertised to me on the Spotify app when I logged in one evening. I love to listen to a podcast as I fall asleep (usually history) and so when this popped up, advertised as ten ten-minute episodes about a man who believed he was from the future, my interest was piqued. I thought: “if Spotify is promoting it and it’s this short and sweet, it must be something good”. Since the day of its launch, it has been the number 1 fiction podcast on the platform. And here’s why:
Case 63 plot – 5/5
Case 63 is all about a patient registered as “Case 63” called Peter (played by Oscar Isaac) who believes he’s from the year 2062. Dr Eliza Knight, New York psychiatrist (Julianne Moore) is his doctor. Dr Knight feels like what he’s saying can’t be true but when he begins to come out with incredibly detailed realisations of the future and suggests he knows things about Dr Knight that he can’t possibly know.
As the listener, you start off by believing it could all be real and he is eventually going to convince Dr Knight that he’s from the future. Throughout the whole time, he’s trying to convince her that she is somehow involved too and it is crucial that she believes him.
It’s a brilliant story that had me gripped from the very start and I was hooked on every single word. There wasn’t a moment where I wasn’t taking in every single detail. As the episodes are only 10 minutes long, you never find yourself getting bored. Each episode has a cliffhanger ending that makes you instantly want to start the next one. It’s gripping like I’ve never experienced in a podcast before.
Case 63 characters – 4.5/5
Oscar Isaac and Julianne Moore play the patient and Dr Knights incredibly well – as you’d expect from two award-winning actors. Isaac plays Peter the patient incredibly well – he is a timid but assured man – he’s clearly intelligent and tries desperately to convince Dr Knights that what he’s saying is the truth.
Julianne Moore is equally impressive; playing a doctor who wants to make her patient feel safe in the environment, asking questions about his story and then starting to get hesitant when things aren’t going the way she planned.
The dynamic created between the two is so believable! They naturally interrupt each other’s sentences, they bounce off each other and they build chemistry with the different emotional reactions they both have. Having two of the best actors in the game really shows here.
Apparently, the director had them sit opposite each other in the recording booth so they could bounce off one another and have those natural reactions and timings to each other’s lines.
Case 63 by Gimlet Productions final rating – 5/5
If you’ve never listened to a fictional podcast before, Case 63 would be the absolute perfect place to start. Each episode is only ten minutes long and there are only ten of them. Every single episode is packed with content and ends on a cliffhanger that will make you want to listen to the next one. Even if time travel or science fiction aren’t your things, you’ll still enjoy this due to the simple but effective format of a Dr interviewing her patient it takes. Once you’ve read this review, head to Spotify and listen to the first few episodes of Case 63!
Start listening to Case 63 here!
So – I’ve listened to this twice – still a bit confused.
=== SPOILER ALERT ===
So initially Peter travels back from 2062 to 2023 to try to interrupt the Patient Zero of Pegasus – who we find out is the gf of Julianne Moore character’s sister – living in London.
Peter states that he was born in 2023 in his original timeline – and that Julianne’s character actually sets them up – resulting in Peter’s birth. OK – now he’s coming back stating giving hints and then admitting that Peter and Beatrice were actually together in all the timelines. OK – how? I get it that they are in Rome together in the Prime Timeline – but all the others too? There is a 30-some year difference in ages at all times in the Prime Timeline – or are all the other timelines ones he has travelled back.
Also – the final segment – which has Dr. Knight traveling back to 2012…and Peter is a grown man? So 11 years prior to his birth? And – did Dr. Knight need to “wait” until 2062 – when she would be in her 70’s – to travel back (based on the technology emergence).
Or I am way, way off?
I have these same doubts! They’ve left so many things open ended. No closure for the audience.