Cast: André Holland, Melanie Lynskey, Bill Skarsgård, Jane Levy, Sissy Spacek
Genre: Horror, Supernatural, Thriller
Hulu’s Castle Rock is a thrilling new psychological-horror series set against the fascinating backdrop of the Stephen King universe. It is an original story that combines the mythological storytelling of King’s best-loved works and it weaves unto itself a saga of darkness and light.
Co-created by Dustin Thomason and Sam Shaw (Manhattan), the series centers on Henry Deaver (Andre Holland), a defense attorney who’s called back to his hometown of Castle Rock after a mysterious young boy (Bill Skarsgard) is found in the bowels of Shawshank State Prison.
Castle Rock isn’t really a King adaptation, strictly speaking, but rather is “based on characters and settings by Stephen King,” according to its opening credit sequence, which rolls over pages from King books. Produced by the author and J.J. Abrams, it uses the town where his novels The Dead Zone, The Dark Half and Needful Things take place and incorporates some familiar faces and locales, including Alan Pangborn (Scott Glenn) and Shawshank Prison.
The show involves several King stories, including The Stand, the 1999 mini-series Storm of the Century, and the series The Dark Tower. Nevertheless, it has trouble balancing the elements from King’s books with those invented by its writers. There are just a few too many King details for the uninitiated to understand, and not enough of King’s trademark storytelling to grip you the way his novels do.
While the pilot episode is self-contained, the world starts to open up a more in episode 2 where we start finding out about the town’s storied, violent history and the blood starts flowing.
The problem with the pilot is its focused a bit too much on the prison and the story of the Deavers rather than the main trio. The impressive cast is rounded out by Allison Tolman, Frances Conroy and Jane Levy, but no character has a chance to develop in the early episodes, which prioritise atmosphere, jump scares and hint-dropping.
The real secret of King’s skill as a storyteller is that he has always been as interested in the natural world as in the supernatural. Many of his most indelible villains, in particular, are not actually monsters but rather “normal” people who have become corrupted in some form or another.
Castle Rock is a can’t-miss series for Stephen King fans and a must-watch horror show for fans of dark, thrilling, character-focused mysteries.
> Mar Martínez
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