While visionary author Stephen King has more masterpieces under his belt than the average person, for this avid reader, none have hit quite the same threshold as his seminal classic, It. Forged in the sewers of fictional Maine town Derry and surged with the grimy DNA of an extraterrestrial cosmic horror, It left its mark on pop culture. Through King’s timeless prose, a cinematic interpretation was born that would burrow its way into multiple generations of traumatized kids. A 1990 TV miniseries starring screen legend Tim Curry as central figure Pennywise the Dancing Clown permanently poisoned some of my earliest childhood memories with its nightmarish realizations of the text. Flash forward to 2017, where filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muscietti would step up to the drain pipe to reinvent the world of It in a sprawling two-part love letter to Stephen King and the Loser’s Club at large. Bill Skarsgård’s take on Pennywise, complete with an entire redesign for the character, was deliciously demented in an entirely different mode than Curry. That 2017 iteration would go on to become the highest grossing horror film of all time, whilst its follow-up still managed to reach nearly $500 million worldwide. Needless to say, audiences truly could not get enough of Pennywise. With the chapter seemingly closed on the legacy of the franchise, it would appear Pennywise and It’s many incarnations were gone for good. Muscietti surprisingly returns to helm a new HBO Max series that further explores It‘s twisted mythology while rolling back the timeline to the tradition-driven Americana of the 1960s. Complete with a fresh cast of Losers and overflowing with explosive King Easter Eggs, It: Welcome to Derry ferociously expands the framework of Pennywise’s reign of terror. Shocking moments and horrific creatures abound, cementing this HBO series as a genre essential perfect for spooky season.
Set in 1962, a chilling cold open sets the stage for the direction of this series, plunging us back into the seemingly friendly streets of Derry, Maine. Young Matty (Miles Ekhardt), a troubled kid, has had enough of the small town, and attempts to hitchhike his way out. Of course, It has other plans. Everything about Matty seems to check off some sort of twisted box for the entity. The idealistic family he has hitched a ride with quickly turns sour, sporting evil smiles, freaky spelling tics, and, most ghoulishly, the outrageous birth of a demon-esque baby creature with wings that unleashes hell as it rips its way through the mother’s stomach. This sequence is incredibly unnerving, doubling down on the children in peril element that King practically created; it also allows ample opportunity for Muschietti’s team to run wild with their imaginations as they craft this nasty creature design. As with Georgie before him, Matty’s disappearance becomes the launching point for the unfolding events. His friend group will do whatever it takes to find him again—but has the clown gotten to him first?
As for the Losers, they are all richly sketched, and played by a collection of excellent child actors. Each contribute immensely to the larger whole, in addition to providing It with plenty of fear to feed on from their insecurities. Outsider Lilly (Clara Stack) lost her father in a horrible pickle machine accident, and does not have many friends. She acts as the emotional core, calling on Stack to do much of the heavy lifting. Lilly becomes quite close with Jewish nerd, Teddy (Mikkal Karim Fidler), and bestie Phil (Jack Molloy Legault), who lament what they could have done to stop their pal Matty from leaving town. Lilly’s sort-of friend, glasses-toting Marge (Maya Misaljevic), desperately longs to be part of the Pattycakes, a group of catty popular girls. Daughter of the Capitol Theatre projectionist, Ronnie (Amanda Christine), adds a fresh perspective amidst the budding racial tensions. Similarly, Will Hanlon (Ryan Grant Little), a legacy relative to It’s Mike Lanlon, has a tender spirit, and instant devotion to friends as he has just moved to Derry with his parents.
The adults are, somehow, just as enthralling as the kids this time around. Where 2017’s It painted the parents as either incompetent, freaky, or both, here, we get a bevy of enthralling characters, courtesy of the Derry Air Force Base. Following in the footsteps of Hulu’s underrated Castle Rock, they bring a classic King character from one of his books into the fray. Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk), which avid King fans will recall has special powers and mentors Danny Torrance in The Shining, seamlessly suits the psychic/cosmic elements of It. Hallorann is a key figure in the mystery at the center, as he helps the Air Force dig for a mysterious power that could end the Cold War. Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo), Will’s father, has been tasked with an arc that forces him to choose between duty to his country and protecting his family; Hanlon’s wife, Charlotte (Taylour Paige), channels her activism to face Derry’s backwards thinkers head on. Dexter‘s James Remar plays General Shaw, overseeing Derry’s mysterious Cold War project. A Native American element brings Rose (Kimberly Guerrero), an elder in that community, into the fray. Poor black projectionist Hank (Stephen Rider) has several murders falsely pinned to him as the system attempts to railroad him on the town’s behalf.
Whilst the “human” cast has always been the heart of any iteration of It, many will be flocking to Welcome to Derry for a few particular reasons. Primely, It takes the shape of several horrific creations, including the aforementioned deformed, winged infant, a collection of pickled papas, and a demented take on Uncle Sam. In the build up to Pennywise’s grand appearance—once again played by a committed Bill Skarsgård (also a producer on the project)—Muscietti and company crank up the atmosphere to an eerie omnipresence. Each alleyway in Derry or the aisles of a movie theater may be host to the horrific entity. Even without him physically there onscreen, something feels off about this small Maine town. Once Pennywise does finally appear, all bets are off. Skarsgård truly delivers in his performance, channeling that same eerie magic that catapulted him to superstardom.
Threading Cold War paranoia, racial tensions, and supernatural horror into one cohesive package is no easy feat, making the stunning quality of Welcome to Derry that much more impressive. As It’s overarching mythology becomes richer and more detailed, so too does this warped world. Still, at the heart are those sacred bonds of friendship—a facet that made the Losers so appealing on the page in the first place. From the sewers to the very borders of Derry, the bond envelops viewers in its warmness. Even though we know the future looks bleak until Bill, Beverly, and the others come along to finally defeat the creature, somehow that does not make this It feel any less potent in its scares or stakes. An opening title credits, stylized to appear as if panning through a continuous vintage ad, encapsulates the feel of the show. A sing-song creepiness plays similar notes to American Horror Story: Murder House staple “Tonight You Belong to Me”—cutesy, yet hiding an expansive darkness just below the surface. The Paul Bunyan statue, the town’s mental asylum, drains, creepy eyes, and even the infamous Kitchener Ironworks explosion rear their ugly heads during this sequence.
The first five episodes shown to critics out of eight are deeply cinematic, with genuine scares and emotional resonance that fully live up to the It name. We revisit more than a few iconic locations, but the TV series never feels as if it’s just lazily lifting elements from the films or book. Each flourish of the plot happens organically and with purpose. Expect to see The Black Spot, a Black-owned bar lifted straight from King’s novel, finally make its way to the screen. There are many moments that rely on CGI to help fully realize the monstrosities, just as the Musciettis refined in their heartfelt retelling of the 1000-page-plus novel. For this viewer, that’s all part of the charm. The eerie world building from showrunners Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane leaves plenty of breathing room to absorb the full scale of It’s influence over Derry. The generational storytelling feels entirely complementary to King’s world while still leaving room for less cultured binge-watchers. Ambitious and terrifying, It: Welcome to Derry gives exactly what it should and more—a sprawling tapestry of lore carves out a place for this mythic prequel to wondrously exist within the larger King universe.
Ride a red balloon into the twisted world of It: Welcome to Derry, debuting exclusively on HBO Max on October 26th.
