The series adaptation of Lord of the Flies starts promisingly, thanks to good child actors and interesting themes. What happens if you let children go their own way without adult supervision? The book "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding from 1954 delves into that question. A group of schoolboys crash on an uninhabited tropical island and are left to fend for themselves. As they try to survive, a brutal power struggle arises among the boys. This story is intended to show how humans are naturally inclined toward power and how far they are willing to go for it. Although a similar real-life situation and new sociological insights paint a very different picture, the story remains fascinating and captures the imagination. It's no surprise that this story has been adapted into films several times.
The BBC has now taken it on and shaped it into a four-part miniseries, written by Jack Thorne (known for, among others, "His Dark Materials" and "Adolescence"). In the first episode, we see how the boys ended up on the island and make a plan to survive and escape. Initially, the well-meaning Ralph (Winston Sawyers) is appointed leader, but the cruel Jack (Lox Pratt) soon seizes more power and uses ruthless methods to climb higher.
The three main characters receive a good introduction.
This new adaptation shows potential. The first hour provides a good introduction to the main characters and the situation they find themselves in. Now, with child actors (especially when there are so many), it's challenging to find the crème de la crème, and not every boy is an equally good actor. We also get to know a lot of new characters, and not every character is equally engaging right away. But the three main boys have a solid introduction and are played by excellent actors.
Winston Sawyers and Lox Pratt both perform well. Pratt is set to play Draco Malfoy in the upcoming Harry Potter series, and here he gives a nice preview of what we can expect from him. But the real star of this first episode is David McKenna, who plays the clumsy, yet intelligent and empathetic Piggy. In a society built on power and cruelty, Piggy embodies humanity, even if it means he will have to pay for it. This is McKenna's first major role, and he does an excellent job.
Sometimes the design feels a bit excessive.
The series' design is good but at times a bit excessive. The first episode is atmospherically shot, and the music and visuals contribute well to the storyline and main themes. However, the creators sometimes went overboard with camera and sound effects. The first episode is filled with close-ups, filters, unusual camera angles, and strange transitions between shots. In some cases, this helps enhance the atmosphere, but sometimes it's a bit too much.
The first episode of the series adaptation of "Lord of the Flies" is a promising start to an ambitious miniseries. The main actors perform well, and the themes are interesting. Here and there, the design is a bit excessive, but nonetheless, I am very curious about the remaining three episodes.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
