Critic Reviews
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I loved the first season of Netflix’s Locke & Key adaptation, which brilliantly skirts the line between horror, drama, comedy and dark fantasy the comics by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez helped innovate.
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An entertaining and heartfelt family adventure about growing up, coping with loss, and finding a demon at the bottom of a well on your haunted estate. Imagine Goosebumps for grown-ups, or Stranger Things on antidepressants.
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While much of Locke and Key feels superficially familiar, cushioned by the superior production design and a lush score, there are enough deliberately disconcerting or oddball moments to make it a constantly evolving pleasure. And, with multiple volumes of the collected comic series already on bookstore shelves, this reincarnation could just be the start.
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With a cast comprised largely of wide-eyed teenagers the tone sometimes verges on The Hunger Games with a sprinkling of Stranger Things. Yet the sheer accumulation of thrills, chills and shocking twists gives the 10-part series irresistible momentum.
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As the episodes progress, the writing becomes more confident, and the season ends strongly. "Locke & Key" is the TV-show equivalent of a fixer-upper with good bones. The structure and the foundation are there, but some cosmetic updates might help.
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The writing explores recovery in an accessible way, and a diverse cast helps create an inviting new world. This combination of fantasy and horror provides opportunities not just for scares and imagination, but for astute reflections of society: that self-imposed burdens can leave everyone bowed. Locke & Key weaves a silver lining into an otherwise foreboding tapestry.
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In the end, Locke & Key is at its best when it stops trying to be cool and edgy and gives into the earnest spectacle of kids getting pieces of their father back through unexplainable forces. That is a hugely engrossing and affecting idea that keeps the show afloat at first and makes it truly sing at last.
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Locke & Key isn’t at all shy about revealing Key House’s incredible secrets; it just struggles to then do much with them, instead tending to hit pause on any acquired momentum to dive back into high school dating/movie club drama. As such, things don’t really get crackling until Episode 5 or so.
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To say there’s a lot going on is putting it mildly. The writers do an admirable job of blending and connecting those multiple storylines, but not all of the subplots are all that involving or exciting. From time to time, the overall momentum slows to a gloomy crawl. The younger actors all turn in lively, empathetic performance. ... Unfortunately, many of the other adult cast members turn in underwhelming work.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 55 out of 92
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Mixed: 17 out of 92
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Negative: 20 out of 92
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Feb 13, 2020
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Feb 8, 2020
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Feb 9, 2020