First developed for tv by Fox again in 2010, Locke & Key sustained a number of starts-and-stops since then, together with at Hulu and as soon as envisioned as a function movie trilogy. However on Friday, Feb. 7, it arrives within the type of a 10-episode sequence developed by Carlton Cuse (Misplaced, Bates Motel), Meredith Averill (The Haunting of Hill Home) and Aron Eli Coleite (Heroes). Averill’s credit score is maybe most obvious in the long run end result, because the Netflix sequence marries the moody, gothic setting of Netflix’s Hill Home with the youth-skewed journey tone of Stranger Issues.
As Bode, and shortly after Tyler and Kinsey, turn out to be aware of their very particular new dwelling, their reactions are extra within the vein of “Huh, cool” than the far extra apt “Severely, what the holy [bleep] is occurring right here?!,” which you merely want to just accept because the story marches ahead. Nina and the children’ Uncle Duncan (Killjoys‘ Aaron Ashmore), in the meantime, are oblivious to the goings-on, in line with guidelines set by the comedian books (after age 18, you’re blind to magic). That wrinkle sadly stymies Stanchfield’s storyline, particularly, leaving Nina to as a substitute delve into the thriller of husband Rendell’s peculiar previous and the way a seemingly kindly neighbor (The Fosters‘ Sherri Saum) suits into it.
Outdoors of the supernatural points, the teenager fare is at instances expectedly rote, giving Jessup nothing near the fabric he labored with on American Crime; as a substitute, his perfect scenes are reverse Jones’ Kinsey, as brother and sister navigate a tough, evolving dynamic. Jones is at first saddled by the Unhappy Loner position, till Kinsey undergoes a most welcome transformation of types; that’s when the younger actress actually shines. Scott, doing an excellent little bit of the heavy lifting as Bode, is… maybe overcertified? The youngest Locke rolls with the unbelievable punches a bit too simply.
One standout among the many proceedings is Laysla De Oliveira (I’ll go together with… The Gifted?) as Dodge aka one face of what the Lockes discover themselves up towards. The Brazilian actress manages to, as wanted, come off as an all-knowing, aggressive, historic evil… or as a flirty kegger crasher. (She additionally enunciates Bode’s identify in a bone-chilling method, brrrr.)
The set design, as with the aforementioned The Haunting of Hill Home, is beautiful and moody and ornate, making Key Home very a lot a personality unto itself. And the particular results demanded by most of the discovered keys are slick and top-notch, particularly once we go inside Kinsey’s thoughts or when the children unearth a sure somebody’s recollections. These two points elevated the grade right here from being a extra common “C+.”
Locke & Key isn’t in any respect shy about revealing Key Home’s unimaginable secrets and techniques; it simply struggles to then do a lot with them, as a substitute repeatedly hitting pause on any acquired momentum to dive again into highschool courting/film membership drama. As such, issues don’t actually get crackling till Episode 5 or so, constructing to a season finale that thrillingly thrusts the children into hero mode however, most of all, units the stage for any doable Season 2. I might be most curious to see what lovers of the comedian guide sequence (of which I’m unacquainted) consider this lonnnnnng-awaited adaptation, and its potential for the longer term.
THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: Boasting a wonderful forged, Locke & Key is fast to unlock its whiz-bang magical secrets and techniques (and in flip wields nifty particular results), but struggles to conjure a lot momentum.