I usually don't do negative reviews, but since it's an already tried & done subject, the director has a very thin line to walk on to impress the viewers.

If one hasn't seen movies like the critically acclaimed Groundhog Day or the highly rated action flick, the Edge of tomorrow, staring Tom Cruise. I am a hundred percent sure the viewers would have loved and savoured every bit of Russian Doll. But since people like me have seen the above movies, the element of surprise and the cool factor was completely waned of, and it was all in the director's hands to take Russian doll forward, but all I could see was a dull middle aged-relationship drama, with some unfunny dark humour. The series wantonly takes a long time to take off and only in the sixth episode onwards things start to "happen".

The hallmark on any successful TV series or a movie lies in its characters, and their ability to take forward a storyline. Russian doll, despite a great storyline line, falters terribly due to some lacklustre screenplay & characterisation for a major portion of the series. Casting is good, but the characters were honestly boring. Editing was top class overall with a runtime of a decent 212 minutes. Production design, costumes and makeup were all fittingly par. Cinematography was very good for a show that was fast and had a lot of night shots.

Overall, Russian Doll would be a very satisfying and enjoyable outing for people, who haven't watched movies like Groundhog Day before. Lacklustre character development adds further woes to the overall binge worthiness of the show. The beauty of the main storyline lies in its ability to awe people, if it doesn't "awe" you in the first couple of episodes, chances are that it won't till the very end. 5 stars out of 10 for bravely trying out an already done subject.