Had I Not Seen the Sun: Netflix’s Killer Romance Misfire

TL;DR

A gorgeous rain-soaked fever dream where murder meets melodrama, and both promptly forget why they showed up.

Had I Not Seen the Sun is what happens when a serial killer story spends too much time journaling. It’s haunting, yes, but occasionally about as thrilling as a TED Talk in the rain.

Beautiful crime, questionable therapy.

Think you could charm a serial killer through plexiglass? Zodiac (2007 Blu-ray) — “For those who like their killers methodical and their cops confused.”

Criminal Fantasy Fulfilment

Every so often, Netflix drops something that makes you question your life choices. Had I Not Seen the Sun is one of those things. It’s about a serial killer who agrees to an interview nine years after a massacre — which, let’s be honest, is every true-crime podcaster’s wet dream.

At first, it’s deliciously wrong. We’re rooting for the killer, he’s brooding in the rain, and the police are nowhere to be found — just the way we like it. But then, just as you’re preparing your villain worship candles, the show decides it wants to be a romantic tragedy. Suddenly, there are flashbacks, ballerinas, trauma montages, and about three different metaphors involving moths.

It’s like Silence of the Lambs took a gap year to write poetry and cry in the shower.

Plot & Pacing

The premise screams “tense psychological thriller,” but the pacing screams “IKEA queue on a Sunday.” The first episode hooks you, then the next four gently rock you to sleep while violins play.

Instead of slick interviews and chilling confessions, we get long discussions about guilt and teenage heartbreak — which is great if you came for therapy, but not ideal if you came for murder.

You keep expecting a twist, a scream, maybe a decapitated metaphor. Instead, you get a slow zoom on rain hitting glass.

By episode seven, I was cheering for the weather.

Characters & Performances

Our killer, Li Jen-yao, has the perfect psycho face: calm, polite, and just unhinged enough to make you check your locks. The journalist interviewing him looks like she’s permanently two cups of coffee away from a breakdown. It’s solid acting — if slightly confused about what genre it’s in.

One moment you think he’s going to slit her throat; the next, they’re sharing a tender flashback about high school bullying. It’s the world’s strangest Before Sunrise, except one of them definitely has bodies in the trunk.

Everyone gives it their all, but the script keeps pulling emotional handbrakes. Just when tension builds, we cut to interpretive ballet or rain symbolism. Nothing says “serial killer” like a delicate pirouette in slow motion.

Dialogue & Writing

The dialogue swings wildly between “hauntingly profound” and “Instagram caption from 2014.” People talk about moths, light, regret, and trauma until you start rooting for darkness purely to shut them up.

Every line sounds like it was written by someone who’s been trapped in a philosophy seminar for three years. You can almost hear the thesaurus begging for mercy. And yet… it’s fascinating. There’s sincerity buried under the melodrama, like a body under a rose bush.

World & Atmosphere

Visually, it’s stunning — every frame looks like an ad for grief. Rain-soaked alleys, misty school corridors, melancholy lighting that says, “This town has definitely seen some dismemberment.”

But the tone is a circus. One minute it’s gritty noir, the next it’s supernatural ballet recital. It’s like the directors took every genre in existence, dumped them in a blender, and yelled “art!” as it exploded.

Still, it’s gorgeous chaos. You’ll forgive a lot when everything looks like it’s been shot through a £2,000 sadness filter.

Feeling emotionally stable after that scene? Disgusting. Fix that. Sink deeper into the noir pit with these cult obsessions: 🎬 Se7en (1995) Blu-ray

Direction & Style

The directors clearly went for arthouse Hannibal — lots of lingering shots, lots of silence, lots of “we’re not sure what’s happening but it looks expensive.” It’s beautiful, yes, but glacially slow. You could watch Heat twice and still have time for a snack before something happens here.

There’s style in every corner — and plot somewhere in the basement, banging on the pipes.

Soundtrack & Mood

The music is like depression set to strings. Gentle piano, soft strings, and occasional thunder reminding you that yes, the killer is still emotionally unavailable.

It works — until you realise you’ve been listening to the same tragic chord progression for an hour and your cat’s now clinically sad.

Still, it’s immersive. You’ll feel like you’ve been trapped in the rain with them. Possibly for days.

Morality & Madness

The show flirts with the big question: can a killer also be a victim? Netflix answers: “Yes, but only if he looks good in soft lighting.”

It’s not moral ambiguity, it’s moral interpretive dance. Everyone’s guilty, everyone’s crying, everyone has flashbacks. The police are too busy being plot devices to care.

CRIMENET’s official stance: morality is optional, pacing is not.

Rewatchability/Bingeworthiness

You’ll either binge it like a fever dream or drop out halfway and Google the ending. There’s no in-between. Watching it twice would be like watching rain dry — poetic but deeply concerning.

One viewing: haunting.

Two viewings: possible early signs of Stockholm Syndrome.

Series Longevity

There’s a Part 2 coming in December. Unless the next half introduces more murder and fewer interpretive dance sequences, we fear the only corpse left will be the pacing.

Still, the potential’s there. If they double down on the killer and ditch the ballet, we could be looking at a cult classic instead of a slow-motion nap.

FAQ

Is Had I Not Seen the Sun worth watching in 2025? Yes — if you enjoy serial killers whispering poetic nonsense while it rains for nine hours.

Does it deliver actual crime? Sometimes. Mostly it delivers flashbacks, trauma, and humidity.

Is the killer hot? Painfully. It’s criminal how attractive sociopaths are on Netflix these days.

Will it make me question morality? Only when you realise you’ve sided with the murderer halfway through and feel oddly proud.

Can I watch it with my parents? Only if you want 50 minutes of silence and one very awkward comment about “emotional darkness.”

Should CRIMENET cover Part 2? Absolutely. If it gets any slower, we can list it under “True Crime: Snail Edition.”

Still here? You might be one of us. Stock up your digital hideout before Netflix finds another killer with a conscience: 🎬 The Fall – Complete Series

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