The Clearing Episode 1 and 2 Review: Hulu’s latest psychological crime-thriller is created by Elise McCredie and Matt Cameron and is based on In the Clearing by J. P. Pomare. The screenplay is adapted from the book by Elise McCredie, Matt Cameron and Osamah Sami. Jeffrey Walker and Gracie Otto serve as the directors for the thriller.
The main cast for the series includes Teresa Palmer, Miranda Otto, Guy Pearce and Julia Savage. It also features Hazem Shammas, Kate Mulvany, Xavier Samuel, Anna Lise Phillips, Mark Coles Smith, Harry Greenwood, Erroll Shand, Doris Younane, Claudia Karvan, Miah Madden, Gary Sweet, Alicia Gardiner, Matt Okine, Jeremy Blewitt, Lily La Torre, Ras-Samuel Welda’abzgi, Berlin Lu and Kristof Kaczmarek.
The producer for this series is Jude Troy and the executive producers are McCredie, Cameron and Walker with Richard Finlayson and Elizabeth Bradley. There are a total of eight episodes with the first two episodes out now. The runtime of each episode is 40-60 minutes.
– Hulu’s The Clearing Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
The Clearing Episode 1 and 2 Review: Freya and The Kindred
The Clearing is a series inspired by the real-life Victorian cult called The Family and, gives a lot of focus on its leader, the charismatic Adrienne Hamilton-Byrne aka Anne, played by Miranda Otto in this series. With a two-episode premiere, the series has set its serious tone and has not shied away from the fact that it is going to be a crazy watch as the weeks pass by.
The series starts with us being introduced to The Kindred. It is a cult that constitute of well-mannered children flaunting blonde bobs but, hiding some unknown truth and pain in their eyes. The cult group has a leader, a matriarch to be more specific and she is called ‘Mother’ aka Matirah. She is a figure that rules these children and their way of life. In their eyes, she is the almighty- the God and the Devil, all at once.
However, there is not one timeline but, two in this story because, soon enough we see another character- we meet Freya. She is a single mother with a son named Billy and in the episodes, we see that the passage of a white van triggers something horrifying from her past and brings it to her present life.
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When we go deeper into the episodes, we find a connection; something that links Freya to The Kindred, offering us a look at a dark subject that ranges from the kidnapping of children to their grooming to PTSD, violence and more.
The Clearing Episode 1 and 2: Final Thoughts
First off, this is an intense thriller and, definitely not for the weak-hearted. In fact, for the woke generation, one would ask the show to be filled with trigger warnings. It is a hard matter to digest and, the makers are presenting it to us that way. There are certain nuances in the story that draws you in and the acting performances are ruthlessly good so far.
If anything, the first two episodes are so impressive in The Clearing that it is hard waiting for the next ones to come. Hopefully, the bar is going to stay this high for the show as it progresses and not fall on us and our expectations.
You can watch all the first two episodes of The Clearing now streaming on Hulu.
Let us know in the comments below how you liked this psychological crime thriller on Hulu!