The Changeling Review (2023): The horror fantasy thriller stars LaKeith Stanfield as Apollo, Adina Portner as Lillian, Clark Backo as Emma, and Samuel T. Herring as William, along with Amirah Vann, Malcolm Barret, Jared Abrahamson, and others. Created by Kelly Marcel and directed by Melina Matsoukas, it is based on Victor LaValle’s novel of the same name. The Apple TV+ series has 8 episodes of an hour, approximately.
The Changeling Review Contains No Spoilers
In Apple TV’s The Changeling (2023), we meet Apollo, a man with a dark family past. He finds love in Emma, and they get married and have a baby boy named Brian. Initially, everything is sweet, and Apollo and Emma live their fairy-tale romance. However, things start to take an ugly turn with the baby’s arrival. Everything has a negative impact on Emma, who first loses her sleep and then her mind. She refuses to accept her own baby and thinks of him as a monster.
Emma’s madness and fear towards her baby result in a series of unfortunate events. Apollo’s life comes down crumbling, and he seeks answers. As shown in the trailer, Apollo desperately searches for his wife, Emma, while trying to understand what happened to Brian. The show keeps you engaged until it showcases Emma’s madness and dives into the unknown darkness. But after that, everything feels heavy to watch.
New characters and new subplots are introduced that really don’t pack the same gut-wrenching emotions we experienced in the first 4–5 episodes. The addition of more characters only exhausts us. The darkness and the fear don’t play with our minds anymore. As a viewer, you become impatient to find answers to the spooky hints dropped since episode 1.
The Changeling could’ve wrapped the story perfectly with just six episodes if the story hadn’t included more people in the latter half. It’s a long stretch to keep one guessing what must have happened. The narrative shift after the fifth episode is not compelling, and you struggle to be concerned about anyone else other than Brian. What was verbally discussed in the first few episodes, is visually shown in the latter half, which was not necessary.
The BGM and music used in the series play a key role in absorbing our minds into the mystery slowly unfolding. The slow-burn storytelling is an exhilarating watch (in parts) also because of the performances. Actor LaKeith Stanfield’s performance as Apollo is tremendous from start to finish. He has to express a variety of emotions. The actor moves you with his reaction in a scene where he discovers the truth about his nightmares. Adina Porter and Clark Backo portray Lillian and Emma exceptionally and are the backbone of Apollo’s story.
The Changeling Review: Final Thoughts
Overall, The Changeling is a slow-burn, intense series that delivers well in the first five episodes. The series struggles to intrigue you in the last few episodes, leaving you drained and impatient to find the truth. The horror element is also weak.
The series will drop its first three episodes on Apple TV+ on September 8, 2023. After that, a new episode will drop every Friday till October 13th.
Will you be watching the series? Do let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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The last two episodes are critical to the story.