If you're looking for a very quirky and off-beat anthology series then you should definitely check out Roar on Apple TV.
Based on the book of the same name by Cecelia Ahern, Roar has eight episodes, each chronicling a completely different story in eight different women's lives.
What makes this show stand out is that these are not ordinary stories. They are more like modern-day fables that each highlight a specific issue faced by women in today's world.
So while some may not necessarily make sense at the beginning, by the end, the point of the tale is crystal clear.
To give you a better sense of what Roar has in store for you, I'll take you briefly through each of the eight stories.
The Woman Who Disappeared
Starring Issa Rae, she plays Wanda Shepard, a woman whose book about her life has been optioned by a studio that wants to turn it into a movie.
But what happens when four white male executives stop seeing and hearing her views about life as a black woman? She starts to disappear…
Can Wanda stand up for herself or will she just fade away?
The Woman Who Ate Photographs
The second episode of Roar stars Nicole Kidman as an ordinary suburban housewife in Australia.
With a husband and two teenage sons, Robin's life is about to change as she travels across the country to bring her mother Rosy (Judy Davis) to live with her family.
The reason? Rosy has dementia and with her mind failing her, Robin discovers that if she eats photographs of her childhood, she can instantly relive the moment the pic was taken.
It's a clever look at the need to hang on to memories when somebody so close is slowly losing all of theirs.
The Woman Who Was Kept On A Shelf
Betty Gilpin is a beautiful model who has spent her entire life being told that all she has are her looks.
When she meets the very wealthy Harry (Daniel Dae Kim) she soon finds herself married and the centre of his world.
So much so that he builds a huge shelf in the biggest room of the house so that she can spend her life sitting on it.
Why? Because she's so beautiful, like a work of art, he just wants to look at her all day.
A clever spin on the traditional ‘trophy wife' trope with Betty Gilpin simply brilliant as a woman who sees herself as nothing more than pretty.
The Woman Who Found Bite Marks On Her Skin
Cynthia Erivo is simply outstanding as Ambia, a woman who following the birth of her child, finds herself torn by the idea of going back to work.
Despite her supportive husband Greg (Jake Johnson, Stumptown) deciding to be a stay-at-home father, Ambia is constantly guilt-ridden about leaving her children.
As a result, she starts to develop hideous bite marks all over her body. But what is causing it and how can she stop it from happening?
The Woman Who Was Fed By A Duck
This is probably the story that has gained the most traction on social media because of a couple of eyebrow-raising scenes. But that doesn't really do this excellent story much justice.
Merritt Wever (Unbelievable) stars as Elisa a young woman who is still searching for Mr. Right. Her problem is that all of her dates are duds and she still remains unlucky in love.
That is until she meets a talking duck at the park. Yes, a duck. Anyway, he's just a representation of the ideal man.
He's clever, kind and interesting and everything that Elisa is looking for. So deciding to go with it, she moves Larry the duck (Justin Kirk) into her apartment.
But what happens when Larry slowly changes into a mean control freak?
A stellar episode that portrays the familiar domestic abuse situation that people find themselves in, and unable to get out of.
Roar: The Woman Who Solved Her Own Murder
Alison Brie finds herself standing at a murder scene. The problem is that she is also the victim.
Quickly discovering that neither of the detectives, Hugh Dancy and Christopher Lowell, seem particularly interested in solving her case, she decides to take matters into her own ghostly hands and solve it herself.
A wonderful story about how ordinary women can be targeted simply because they are women and the lack of interest in solving their murders when they are seen as disposable.
The Woman Who Returned Her Husband
What happens when you turn 60-years-old and realise that your life hasn't quite turned out as you had planned? You're not happy and your marriage is stale.
If you're Anu (Meera Syal) you simply take your husband Vikras (Bernard White) back to the big box store and return him for a different model.
But when even that doesn't work, you have to stand back, take a long hard look at your life and maybe realise that the only person who can truly make you happy is you.
The Girl Who Loved Horses
Set in the wild west, Fivel Stewart plays Jane, a young woman whose father is murdered.
Attempting to get her revenge and take back the horse that he owned, she decides to shoot her father's killer.
The only thing stopping her is Millie (Kara Hayward), the pastor's daughter who tries to talk her out of it.
Is Roar (Apple TV) Worth Watching?
This is very much a female anthology series. The stories are based on Cecelia Ahern's book and the series was created by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch.
Each episode has a female lead and a female director who are Channing Godfrey Peoples, Kim Gehrig, So Yong Kim, Rashida Jones, Liz Flahive, Anya Adams and Quyen Tran.
It is a collection of stories about women's experiences and how they navigate through other people's perceptions of them as well as their own.
And it is most definitely worth watching. There is a magical realism to each episode as each takes the ordinary and turns it into something far more interesting.
The characters are real, engaging and relatable with the creators, writers and cast doing an incredible job of bringing fully formed women to the small screen.
As a tv series, it has a unique blend of drama, comedy, harsh reality and quirkiness that tells the story of what it is like to be a woman today.
Is Roar on Netflix?
Roar is an Apple TV series and as such, you can only watch it on Apple TV+.
It is not available to watch on Netflix. You have to subscribe to Apple TV which is well worth the money!
