{ "id": "ep1m8e2xkp", "slug": "calls", "title": "Calls", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres", "label": "Genre and subject-scripted series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series", "label": "Fantasy, supernatural, and horror series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series.horror-drama-and-thriller-series", "label": "Horror drama and thriller series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series.horror-drama-and-thriller-series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series.horror-drama-and-thriller-series.psychological-slasher-and-anthology-horr", "label": "Psychological, slasher, and anthology horror", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series.horror-drama-and-thriller-series.psychological-slasher-and-anthology-horr" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series.horror-drama-and-thriller-series", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020: Horror drama and thriller series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series.horror-drama-and-thriller-series", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres", "label": "Genre and subject-scripted series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series", "label": "Fantasy, supernatural, and horror series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series.horror-drama-and-thriller-series", "label": "Horror drama and thriller series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series.horror-drama-and-thriller-series" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Calls (2021) is an Apple TV+ anthology series directed by Fede Álvarez, adapted from Timothée Hochet's French Canal+ series; nine 13–21-minute episodes told through phone calls with abstract visuals, 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.", "snippet": "Calls (2021) is an Apple TV+ anthology series directed by Fede Álvarez, adapted from Timothée Hochet's French Canal+ series; nine 13–21-minute episodes told through phone calls with abstract visuals, 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.fantasy_supernatural_series.horror-drama-and-thriller-series.psychological-slasher-and-anthology-horr", "markdown": "# Calls\n\n**Calls** is a nine-episode American anthology series directed and co-written by [Fede Álvarez](https://www.edgepedia.org/fede-alvarez), in which every story is told entirely through audio recordings of phone calls, accompanied by abstract animated visuals and on-screen captions of the dialogue. It is an English-language adaptation of the French series of the same name created by Timothée Hochet, and it premiered on Apple TV+ on March 19, 2021.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9327706/fullcredits/) • [2](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/calls//)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Premiere | March 19, 2021, on Apple TV+, with all nine episodes available that day[2](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/calls//) • [3](https://epguides.com/Calls/) |\n| Format | A series of interconnected phone conversations between people thrown into disarray in the lead-up to an apocalyptic event, with visuals limited to dots, names, sound waveforms, and running captions[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/calls/s01) • [5](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894718/calls-is-a-suspenseful-audio-drama-with-an-effective-visual-boost) |\n| Episode length | Between 13 and 21 minutes[6](https://www.heavenofhorror.com/reviews/calls-apple-tv-plus-season-1/) |\n| Origin | Based on the French Canal+ series created by Timothée Hochet, which premiered December 15, 2017, and grew out of a pilot short Hochet posted to YouTube[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9327706/fullcredits/) • [7](https://www.cineserie.com/critiques/series-tv/calls-notre-avis-1281318/) |\n| Voice cast | Includes Aubrey Plaza, Pedro Pascal, Rosario Dawson, Lily Collins, Nick Jonas, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Mark Duplass, Joey King, and Karen Gillan[5](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894718/calls-is-a-suspenseful-audio-drama-with-an-effective-visual-boost) • [8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/calls) |\n| Reception | 95% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 20 critics; 85% on the audience Popcornmeter from more than 100 ratings[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/calls/s01) |\n| Status | One season of nine episodes, all aired in March 2021; listed as canceled/ended[3](https://epguides.com/Calls/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and structure\n\nEvery installment centers on an ominous mystery told through a set of phone calls that seem ordinary and unrelated at first, but soon take on a nightmarish quality as the lives of those involved steadily come apart.[2](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/calls//) The episodes work as standalone short stories, but eerie connections accumulate across the season, and the interrelated calls eventually reveal a larger truth about a group of strangers in different parts of the United States whose lives are disrupted in the lead-up to an apocalyptic event.[9](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/4/23/calls-apple-tv-audio-show-season-1-review/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/calls/s01) The season forms a circle: it opens with an episode titled \"The End,\" and the finale, \"Leap Year Girl,\" ties back into that first episode.[6](https://www.heavenofhorror.com/reviews/calls-apple-tv-plus-season-1/)\n\nThe nine episode titles are \"The End,\" \"The Beginning,\" \"Pedro Across the Street,\" \"It's All in Your Head,\" \"Me, Myself and Darlene,\" \"The Universe Did It,\" \"Mom,\" \"Is There a Scientist on the Plane?\", and \"Leap Year Girl,\" all dated March 19, 2021.[3](https://epguides.com/Calls/) The opener follows Tim ([Nicholas Braun](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-braun)) and Sara ([Karen Gillan](https://www.edgepedia.org/karen-gillan)) in a long-distance relationship; other episodes deal with the consequences of a bank robbery and a secret affair ([Pedro Pascal](https://www.edgepedia.org/pedro-pascal) and Judy Greer), a time glitch that turns a boyfriend into an absent father, and, in the finale, a woman played by Aubrey Plaza trying to work out why the world is falling apart.[9](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/4/23/calls-apple-tv-audio-show-season-1-review/) • [8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/calls)\n\n## The audio-first format\n\nNo actors or sets appear on screen. The visuals are non-figurative lines and colors reminiscent of a laser light show or a screensaver, along with the text of the dialogue and labels identifying who is talking; a simple line connects two dots representing the people in a conversation, and another line branches off as a call ends or someone is put on hold.[8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/calls) • [10](https://popcult.blog/2024/04/08/tv-review-calls/) These graphics serve a practical function as well as an aesthetic one: they help the listener keep track of who is talking and where, or when, they are, so that one voice can drop in and another drop out with fluidity.[5](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894718/calls-is-a-suspenseful-audio-drama-with-an-effective-visual-boost) • [6](https://www.heavenofhorror.com/reviews/calls-apple-tv-plus-season-1/) One episode replaces the phone calls with radio communications.[10](https://popcult.blog/2024/04/08/tv-review-calls/)\n\nÁlvarez has said the project gave him a rare chance to work without pre-existing \"Bible\" or reference materials, and that he set a feature-film bar for each high concept, compressed into roughly ten minutes of story.[11](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/calls-apple-tv-plus-feder-alvarez-interview) He has also traced the concept to a childhood memory: his father telling him about [Orson Welles](https://www.edgepedia.org/orson-welles)'s radio adaptation of *The War of the Worlds* and its effects on listeners, an account that underlies the series' use of sound alone to unsettle.[12](https://www.pagina12.com.ar/330160-calls-de-fede-alvarez-un-radioteatro-sonoro-y-experimental)\n\n## The French original\n\nThe source series was created by Timothée Hochet, a \"web cinéaste\" who first posted a pilot short on YouTube exposing the concept, a horrifying atmosphere with no visual to attach to, and then wrote and directed the French television version, which took life on Canal+ on December 15, 2017.[7](https://www.cineserie.com/critiques/series-tv/calls-notre-avis-1281318/) • [5](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894718/calls-is-a-suspenseful-audio-drama-with-an-effective-visual-boost) The French series ran for ten episodes, each built from recordings of different kinds, telephone calls, cassettes, an aircraft's black box, and walkie-talkies, with a French voice cast including Kyan Khojandi, Marina Foïs, Charlotte Le Bon, and [Gaspard Ulliel](https://www.edgepedia.org/gaspard-ulliel).[7](https://www.cineserie.com/critiques/series-tv/calls-notre-avis-1281318/)\n\n## Production context\n\nÁlvarez, an Uruguayan director previously known for *Evil Dead* and *Don't Breathe*, announced the series on Twitter in early March 2021, writing that he had \"written and directed a TV series for Apple TV+\" and that \"we had never seen anything like this.\"[13](https://en.mercopress.com/2021/04/08/fede-lvarez-uruguayan-filmmaker-the-best-possible-story-with-what-is-at-hand) He finished producing the series in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.[13](https://en.mercopress.com/2021/04/08/fede-lvarez-uruguayan-filmmaker-the-best-possible-story-with-what-is-at-hand) Because it was released a year into the pandemic, viewers often assumed the picture-free format was a coronavirus compromise; according to Common Sense Media, it was always intended to be a picture-free show that happened to coincide with an unsettling time.[8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/calls)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritics responded well to the experiment. The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus recalls \"the immersive serials of radio's heyday,\" praising the vocal performances and unsettling ambience and noting that the visual storytelling plays out in viewers' imaginations.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/calls/s01) Reviewers highlighted the format's effectiveness for horror, since the audience's imagination fills in the visual blanks, though one critic argued that the blend of podcast-like audio and television did not justify carving out a new television niche.[8](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/calls) • [9](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/4/23/calls-apple-tv-audio-show-season-1-review/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Calls (2021) – Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9327706/fullcredits/)\n2. [Calls – Apple TV Press (UK)](https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/calls//)\n3. [Calls (a Titles & Air Dates Guide), epguides.com](https://epguides.com/Calls/)\n4. [Calls: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/calls/s01)\n5. ['Calls' is a Suspenseful Audio Drama With an Effective Visual Boost, KQED](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894718/calls-is-a-suspenseful-audio-drama-with-an-effective-visual-boost)\n6. [Calls: Season 1 – Apple TV Plus Review, Heaven of Horror](https://www.heavenofhorror.com/reviews/calls-apple-tv-plus-season-1/)\n7. [Critique de Calls (Série, 2017), CinéSérie](https://www.cineserie.com/critiques/series-tv/calls-notre-avis-1281318/)\n8. [Calls – Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/calls)\n9. ['Calls' Review: An Intriguing but Unnecessary Experiment in Audio-Based TV, The Harvard Crimson](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/4/23/calls-apple-tv-audio-show-season-1-review/)\n10. [TV Review – Calls, PopCult Reviews](https://popcult.blog/2024/04/08/tv-review-calls/)\n11. [Calls: Fede Alvarez discusses his experimental new show for Apple TV+, SYFY WIRE](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/calls-apple-tv-plus-feder-alvarez-interview)\n12. [\"Calls\" de Fede Álvarez, un radioteatro sonoro y experimental, Página|12](https://www.pagina12.com.ar/330160-calls-de-fede-alvarez-un-radioteatro-sonoro-y-experimental)\n13. [Fede Álvarez, Uruguayan filmmaker: \"The best possible story with what is at hand\", MercoPress](https://en.mercopress.com/2021/04/08/fede-lvarez-uruguayan-filmmaker-the-best-possible-story-with-what-is-at-hand)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Genre and subject-scripted series › Fantasy, supernatural, and horror series › Horror drama and thriller series › Psychological, slasher, and anthology horror*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/calls", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/calls.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Calls\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/calls. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Calls](https://www.edgepedia.org/calls)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/calls](https://www.edgepedia.org/calls). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Calls\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/calls. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Calls is an Apple TV+ anthology series directed by Fede Álvarez, adapted from Timothée Hochet's French Canal+ series; nine 13–21-minute episodes told through phone calls with abstract visuals, 95% on Rotten Tomatoes." }