Racism. Segregation. Eldritch horror. Real-life horror meets Lovecraftian sci-fi monsters in the new HBO series we’re surely looking out for.
If you’re looking to spice up your watchlist, “Lovecraft Country” might be the one you’re looking for. Based on a 2016 novel by Matt Ruff, the show is set in the 1960s when racism and segregation are at full speed. The story follows Atticus (Jonathan Majors), a young man returning to his hometown to search for his father (Michael K. Williams), who’s gone missing in the New England wilds called Lovecraft Country. He is joined by his friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) on a road trip filled with unexplainable mysteries and ungodly abominations.
There’s a lot of allegorical horror up in this gig. Just by watching the trailer, showrunner Misha Greene’s commonality with executive producer Peele seeps through the imagery. Visuals on “Lovecraft Country’s” trailer mirrors real-life horrors with the supernatural macabre. It has the potential to be a genre-bender, if done correctly.
By the trailer alone, we already see clever references placed in the story. Audiences immediately associate Atticus from the white savior lead in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” As for the title of the series, it’s a clear nod to one of sci-fi’s most controversial and racist figures, H.P. Lovecraft.
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“Lovecraft Country” subverts the real horrors of racism with the man-made horrors of a known racist author. And if it doesn’t make you somewhat curious, I don’t know what will.
Watch the trailer below:
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Still from “Lovecraft Country”