While every film and TV show is influenced by the climate in which it's made, some projects just feel eerily poignant and topical.
Case in point, HBO's brilliant reimagining of Watchmen. The new take on Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel felt extremely topical because it told a story about racist terror and intergenerational trauma, as seen through the eyes of black characters.
Well, as stated previously on The Rewind, we've got massive hopes for HBO's upcoming horror series, Lovecraft Country.
In terms of the story, the horror series is based on Matt Ruff ’s novel of the same name. The drama follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he joins his friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father (Michael Kenneth Williams).
This begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying ancient monsters ripped from the twisted mind of H.P Lovecraft.
Well, if the early reviews are anything to go by, HBO have another hit on their hands.
At present, the show holds an 82% rating on Metacritic and 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Here's what the critics have said:
Rolling Stone - "Lovecraft Country lands in a specific time and place for both, but in a way that feels universal as much as it feels scary. It's one of the best shows HBO has made in a long, long time."
The Hollywood Reporter - "Lovecraft Country may not always be better than HBO's Watchmen, another recent show that used popular genre forms as a way into larger sociological debates, but it often makes Watchmen (or even executive producer Jordan Peele's Get Out) look tentative by comparison. This is a show that hooks you fast — and one toward which it's nearly impossible to be ambivalent."
LA Times - "The monster attacks, crazy dream sequences, scenes that borrow with no embarrassment from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the places “Raiders” borrowed from, all work as they’re meant to.
Time - "A smart, gripping, and wonderfully wild 10-episode drama. ... To say that Lovecraft Country is a whole lot of show would be an understatement. Blood and jump-scares aside, the scripts pack in transcendent musical numbers, parties teeming with guests, sex both tender and terrifying, cinematic car chases that hit the spot in a summer without blockbusters."
Lovecraft Country starts on Monday 17 August at 02.00 with the episode repeated at 21.00 on Sky Atlantic. The series will also be available to watch and stream online via NOW TV.
Take a look at what's in store.
Clip via HBO
