‘Changing’: A flawed tale of the adventure of having a child

‘Compelling’

Creative: Kelly Marcel

Address: Melina Matsoukas, Jonathan van Tulleken

Distribution: LaKeith Stanfield, Adina Porter, Clark Backo, Samuel T. Herring

Country: United States of America

Duration: 45 minutes approx. (8 episodes)

Year: 2023

Gender: Fantasy / Horror

Premiere: September 8, 2023 (Apple TV+)

★★★

a changing The haunting figure of European folklore – basically a rogue child, the creature left behind by sometimes not-so-good fairies, is where a normal healthy human child used to be.. ‘Changed’ was already the original title ‘At the end of the stairs’It’s been claimed that director Peter Medak played around a bit with this concept and, incidentally, the eighties horror gem (actually claimed by Scorsese or Del Toro). George C Scott One of the best performances of his career.

The new fantasy and horror talk on Apple TV+ is an adaptation of a novel (unpublished in Spain), not a ‘remake’ of this movie. Victor LaValle, the person who keeps the narrative here. This historian who has not read the book cannot confirm this. Kelly Marcel The adaptation was faithful to the work, but at least a ‘Changing’ An unusually literary series in which the word has great weight, the transitions between tenses or concepts are as natural as the passion of the book, and Harper Lee, author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, is almost another character..

In fact, even the original lead couple lives by the books. But before meeting Apollo, the used book dealer (LaKeith Stanfield) and Emma, ​​the librarian of your dreams (Clark Backo), as in the case of Apollo and Emma, ​​we will learn about her parents and their flirtations that result from something very similar to bullying. Our hero is determined that no matter what happens, things never happen again: His father left when he was four years old. “I want to be a good father to the child I will finally have”affirms with a fragile emphasis.

But before that, Emma has to leave without a return ticket to Brazil. When she finally returns, she’s full of experiences and staring at her wrist. According to the woman who sold him her virtues, the mysterious red thread would grant her three wishes if she fell without outside influence.. First of all, it should not be cut. Exactly what Apollo did without thinking (minor spoiler). That won’t ruin the first two wishes, but maybe it will ruin the third, just one of the mysteries in these hard-to-find stories.

Let’s try to avoid plot details to talk about ‘changed’ as a simple event. A versatile narrative of motherhood and the accompanying anxiety and insecurities.. In the strange universe of the show, equidistant between reality and fantasy, postpartum depression can turn into a supernatural nightmare or both at the same time. Nothing is certain, nothing lasts forever, even the worst of evils. Everything is covered in typical paranoia Haneke from ‘Cache. Hidden’it is described as a region that has only been renovated for the age of social media, where all the worst creatures of the night are out in the open.

Episode by episode, what seems like an inner journey opens up to new characters, new areas, albeit not always for the better. Samuel T. Herring (singer of synthpop band) Future Islands) surprises as poor William Wheeler, who becomes Apollo’s ally after purchasing the first edition of the aforementioned ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ (with Lee’s dedication to Capote). Other additions, both at the level of characters and locations, reduce a certain strength of the series that initially captivated for its use of subjectivity and solitude..

Maybe it would be different Melina MatsoukasOne of the veterans of the music video (“Formation”, Beyoncé!), which was transferred to the series (“Insecure”) and the cinema (“Queen & Slim”), would continue directing after the first episode. His successors are less knowledgeable about tension-raising strategies. The pilot of ‘The Changeling’ basically has to be one of the best terror hours of the year. Especially from the third chapter, this journey starts to lose its direction and intensity.