The mythos developed by H.P. Lovecraft has grabbed the attention of many horror readers over the years. Cthulhu, the other Elder Gods, and the creatures developed over the years are a solid base for many modern horror stories. In fact, there are many people who have encountered the mythos in one form or another who don't even know the origin of the monsters they have come to enjoy in their reading and visual entertainment.
SETTING
HBO has begun a new series, Lovecraft Country, based on the book by Matt Ruff. Lovecraft Country is a story of Black Americans in the United States in the mid-1950s using the Cthulhu mythos from H.P. Lovecraft as a backdrop to the events.
The lead characters must deal with the openly racist culture while traveling to find Atticus Freeman's (Tic) father, Montrose. I know people who are going to be upset about the depiction of the U.S. during this era. Some will be upset because they didn't know what the country was like just a few years ago. Other people will be upset because they don't want to believe the United States was like this.
The racist dangers of the time are the central conflict of this episode. A road trip is more than a leisure ride through the Pennsylvanian countryside as the three people traveling together are immediately faced with the real possibility of being killed.
Tic (Jonathan Majors, Gully and Jungleland) (IMDb page) is the central character. He is veteran who has traveled back home to Chicago after getting a strange letter from his father about Tic's mother's family heritage. He leaves Chicago to track down the clues from the letter with the help of family and friends.
George Freeman (Courtney B. Vance, Project Power and Uncorked) (IMDb page) is Tic's uncle and Montrose's brother. George is the creator and publisher of a travel guide for Black Americans. He has a car they can use to get them where they need to go. They are using the trip to document safe places for Black Americans to travel.
Leticia (Leti) Lewis (Jurnee Smollett, Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey) (IMDb page) is a school crush of Tic's who is travelling with them so she can get to her brother's home. Her lifestyle doesn't sit well with her family and she continues travelling with the two men.
PRESENTATION
The visuals of the show are good. Shoggoths are part of the first episode and their depiction is seamless with the live action taking place, or are they trained shoggoth. The presentation of the United States in the 1950s touched on a lot of details that many times are overlooked. This allows for submersion into the story.
OVERALL
The main purpose of this episode is to introduce us to the characters and setting. This is done well. We have three main characters and a number of supporting cast who are given enough information about them to know they are coming back in later episodes.
Lovecraft Country Episode One is a solid standalone story with a setting that is delivered with a gut punch. There are hooks, foreshadowing, and intrigue that has me looking forward to watching the next installment, which I am giving myself as a reward for finishing this review.
You can find out more about Lovecraft Country on IMDb (link).
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