Lovecraft Country

:

Season 1
  • Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: Aug 16, 2020
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 161 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 85 out of 161
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 161
  3. Negative: 60 out of 161
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User Reviews

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  1. geewah
    Dec 24, 2020
    6
    Disappointing.
    A show that showed so much promise in it's opening episodes turns into a rambling mess the further it goes on.
  2. popcornstadium
    Sep 3, 2020
    4
    I really don't want to be lumped in with all the people on here who are just angry about the racial message, but I can't possibly give this show a good review based on what I've seen so far. I'm totally on board with exploring the Lovecraft mythos through the lens of race. The idea is fantastic. Are these rural townsfolk acting strange because they're fish-banging cultists, or is this justI really don't want to be lumped in with all the people on here who are just angry about the racial message, but I can't possibly give this show a good review based on what I've seen so far. I'm totally on board with exploring the Lovecraft mythos through the lens of race. The idea is fantastic. Are these rural townsfolk acting strange because they're fish-banging cultists, or is this just your usual rural racism? The overlap between Lovecraftian unease and the general anxiety of living in a racist society is such a promising mixture. Unfortunately, this show doesn't have an ounce of subtlety. Black characters sitting down in a restaurant leads to an immediate car crash gun battle with a cartoonish posse of murderous racists. Strange noises in the woods? Here comes a pack of CG movie monsters that are scared of light. Cthulu isn't scary because he can kill you. He isn't a monster you can get away from with a daring last-second escape because even if he doesn't kill you, the fact of his existence will make you want to kill yourself to escape the madness. That's not what you're getting from the supernatural elements in this show; it's pure hollywood scary monsters all the way.

    Look, I want to love a show about Lovecraft that can also throw in a James Baldwin monologue, I really do. But this just isn't a show with enough artistry to pull it off.    … Expand
  3. RidingHood
    Sep 8, 2020
    6
    The writing is compelling and the reinvention of the story is imaginative and fun. The acting is pretty awful however, and over the top.
  4. nilsy
    Dec 13, 2020
    4
    Think the source material is just bad, the actual tv adaption is better then the book its based on. So good actors, good filming everything except the actual story is good. These actors and director are wasted on this.
  5. SimboTheKing
    Nov 4, 2020
    5
    Ima be dead honest and say that I just couldn't finish this show. It's not even that bad but I just don't like how pulpy it feels. The plot isn't that interesting and I just couldn't get invested in it. The acting is a little poor but ultimately I couldn't shake the feeling that it felt like a corny 80s adventure film. Whilst I get that some people enjoy this style I just thought it wasIma be dead honest and say that I just couldn't finish this show. It's not even that bad but I just don't like how pulpy it feels. The plot isn't that interesting and I just couldn't get invested in it. The acting is a little poor but ultimately I couldn't shake the feeling that it felt like a corny 80s adventure film. Whilst I get that some people enjoy this style I just thought it was dumb.

    My friends really hyped this up so I won't lie I'm a bit dissapointed it turned out to be so mediocre. It's not really worth spending the time on when there's so many better shows on HBO alone.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

40
#40 Best TV Season of 2020
6
#6 Most Discussed TV Season of 2020
4
#4 Most Shared TV Season of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 42 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 42
  3. Negative: 0 out of 42
  1. The Playlist
    Reviewed by: Robert Daniels
    Oct 5, 2020
    83
    The pacing of the near-hour long installments feature spasms of crawling. Nevertheless, the flirting beauty of the most powerful scenes, the fleeting profoundness of when poetic prose are strewn across lyrical montages, and the authentic, psychological performances by the cast, make Green’s “Lovecraft Country” a woozy, intoxicating genre odyssey.
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  2. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Lauren Michele Jackson
    Aug 24, 2020
    50
    The show’s script is weighed down by historical annotations; characters refer to themselves and others using the nomenclature of the time (Negro, white) instead of the unqualified pronouns—“we,” “us,” “them”—of actual talk. Innuendo, a staple of melodrama, and a mode in which racialized language thrives, is missing. Neither this nor the show’s cartoonish whites—as viral videos have shown, racists turn cartoonish in the light—would be so distracting if they didn’t deprive mesmerizing talents of their room to work. ... In “Lovecraft Country,” there are revelations but seldom awe.
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  3. Vox.com
    Reviewed by: Aja Romano
    Aug 18, 2020
    70
    The show finds its strongest moments when it layers realism atop metaphorical racism to induce a mounting, increasingly surreal two-fold horror. It’s weaker in terms of connecting those moments back to its overarching plot. But that weakness also feels intentional and refreshing — as if the show is also repudiating the pompous dramatics of its silly cult full of white people trying to something something pure bloodlines, something something sorcery, something something existential cosmic terror.
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