- Network: Apple TV+
- Series Premiere Date: May 13, 2022
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Critic Reviews
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Fortunately, The Essex Serpent delivers in just about every facet. From performances by Tom Hiddleston and Claire Danes that are infused with a delicious note of inward yearning that slowly displays itself on the outside to the fog-blanketed marshes of the Essex village in which the bulk of the story is set, the resulting product is an atmospheric, Gothic romance that doesn't retreat from indulging in its overall foreboding while it ultimately looks toward the possibility of an optimistic ending.
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As historical fiction, as sleepy Gothic romance, as an understated showcase for its cast and crew's talents, it's impossible to escape The Essex Serpent's unexpected charms.
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For a series that wants to have its eel pie and eat it, too, The Essex Serpent balances folk horror and romantic threads reasonably well, and that’s down to fine scripts by Anna Symon, assured, cinematic direction by Clio Barnard, and a strong ensemble of players.
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It works beautifully as a drama about complicated characters tangled in relationships unable to be contained by the conventional boundaries of romance or friendship, and about the ways humans will try to impose order or sense where none can be found.
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An engrossing adaptation that does justice to an already fantastically sumptuous book.
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Apple TV+’s The Essex Serpent is that rare, mythical beast: an adaptation that feels just as compelling as its celebrated source material.
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Gorgeously shot, cleverly crafted, and brimming with intrigue, Clio Barnard’s latest reaffirms her status as one of Britain’s most important directors.
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With pacing that’s best described as assured—in the allure of its writing, cinematography, performances, etc.—“The Essex Serpent” takes a bolder chance in letting its characters stew. “The Essex Serpent” successfully creates a full world beyond its marsh, oftentimes treating the monster as a revealing conversation topic.
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While “The Essex Serpent” isn’t perfect, it manages to adequately capture the brooding tone of its source material and showcases a talented ensemble that makes it fully worth watching.
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Overripe at times, it leaves room for enough mystery and respect for the unknown to keep mind and soul working in tandem toward a heady exploration of faith and doubt. Claire Danes is radiant as Cora Seaborne.
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There’s a lot going on inside “The Essex Serpent,” not all of it successful, though the mini-series is generally handsome, literate and quite well acted.
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It’s a narrative with huge potential to bore, but Anna Symon’s adaptation of the Sarah Perry novel carefully layers it with more probing questions about love, loss, and faith. In its most distinctive moments, “The Essex Serpent” is far richer than skimming along its briny surface might otherwise suggest. In its weaker ones, it indulges a vein of melodrama that doesn’t quite suit it.
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“The Essex Serpent” tells a story where faith rarely manifests in ways other than preachers shouting about sin and love is rarely felt without being laid bare in plain terms. Regardless of what it is that Cora is destined to find out in the water, it’s hard not to want a little more from this show than what’s floating on the surface.
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We’re tentatively giving The Essex Serpent a recommendation because the performances of Danes, Hiddleston and the rest of the cast can overcome the series’ plodding pacing in parts. But we’re just not sure how many people are going to make it through all six episodes when it seems like the first one doesn’t do much to set up the story.
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The performances fade into the background, as the background comes to the foreground. The real star of the show is the murky estuary, where the fog rolls in and the treacherous waters are cloaked in bad omens and superstition. ... It’s a shame, therefore, that against this beautiful backdrop, the human drama never crackles.
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Danes grounds and gives a remarkable truth to the whole. But even allowing for the fact that screen adaptations rarely capture the full filigree of a literary novelist’s work (one reason why uncomplicated genre fiction generally fares better – there is more to add, less to lose), it feels like slightly too much has been lost in translation here.
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Despite the intriguing setup, the sharp direction and the earnest performances, “The Essex Serpent” is a six-episode slog through dramatically murky and not particularly deep waters. It spends too much time bogged down in various melodramatic romantic entanglements.
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Meandering, ponderous and lacking tension, "The Essex Serpent" is in desperate need of more bite.
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Director Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant) has always been stronger on atmosphere than plot. She and writer, Anna Symon, have produced something flat, in which moments of high drama or strong emotion seem overdone.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 1 out of 7
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Mixed: 1 out of 7
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Negative: 5 out of 7
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May 14, 2022As flat and dull as the landscape it is set in. Acting is also ridiculously bad.
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May 13, 2022a very slow and ordinary production with bad performances, Claire is the only good thing about the show