Transatlantic

➤ Rated TV-14
➤ Netflix

We have many inspiring stories honoring courageous women and men who risked their lives to save others from Nazi horrors, for example, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, The Zookeeper’s Wife, and Schindler’s List. There’s always room for one more, but it’s a shame when a show’s tone doesn’t suit the subject matter.

Such is the case with Netflix’s Transatlantic, a “work of fiction inspired by real people and real events” in France after the Nazi invasion. Creators Anna Winger and Daniel Hendler have imparted to this seven-­part TV series too much cringey casualness.

Transatlantic opens in 1940 in Marseille as many nations were restricting immigration, leaving European Jews trapped in a nightmare. Two Americans, Varian Fry (Cory Michael Smith) and Mary Jayne Gold (Gillian Jacobs), work to smuggle Jewish artists and intellectuals out of France on cargo ships.

Perhaps taking their cue from the relative success of Jojo Rabbit (which this reviewer panned as distasteful), the showrunners experiment with the Holocaust-film genre—adding perky soundtracks, acting that at times seems deliberately farcical, gratuitous (male) nudity, and a montage of images during the credits that is both artistic and clownish.

The genocide of millions becomes a blank canvas on which to slather romantic entanglements. Mary Jayne and a refugee are attracted to each other, the local American consul exacts ­sexual favors from Mary Jayne in exchange for his dubious assistance, and the married Varian reunites with his former male lover. Except for elegant sets and costumes, Transatlantic is entirely off-putting. Three episodes were more than enough for me to abandon ship.