'The Changeling' is a disturbing new horror series that taps into parents' primal fear
“The Changeling” demands a lot of viewers, while also offering rewards for the effort.
The question is whether it’s worth it.
The answer is yes, but it’s a qualified yes. The eight-episode Apple TV+ limited series gets off to a rollicking start but has a hard time maintaining its momentum.
It is engrossing. It’s also difficult to watch at times and for different reasons.
This is not a criticism of the horrific scenes, of which there are a few; that’s part of telling this particular story (based on Victor LaValle’s novel) of terror, abuse and abandonment.
What’s good here is really good. But at times, the show, anchored by knockout performances by LaKeith Stanfield and Clark Backo, drifts off into tangential storylines — and, without spoiling anything, wraps nothing up.
They’re betting the farm on a second season. If that doesn’t arrive, it’s going to feel like a betrayal.
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What is 'The Changeling' series about?
But first things first.
Stanfield, who is also an executive producer of the series, plays Apollo Kagwa, a rare book dealer in New York. He falls for Emma Valentine (Backo), a librarian, who turns him down repeatedly. He’s not discouraged — as we learn in flashbacks (there are many), his mother was equally hesitant to go out with his father.
Emma hesitates because she’s going to Brazil for some time and doesn’t want to get too heavily involved with anyone. She and Apollo hit it off, but she goes on her trip. While there, she ignores the warnings of superstitious villagers and visits a forbidden waterfall, where a woman they identify as a witch waits.
The crone ties a red string around Emma’s wrist and tells her to make three wishes. When the string falls off, they will come true. So be careful what you wish for. And DO NOT CUT IT OFF.
Back in New York, she tells the tale to Apollo — who promptly cuts the string.
Soon they marry and Emma is pregnant. They’re elated. Apollo desperately wants to be the father that he didn’t have (his disappeared when he was young). A miracle birth would seem to portend good things.
It doesn’t.
Emma struggles with what everyone assumes is postpartum depression — lack of sleep, which leads to exhaustion, as well as a nagging feeling that maybe their son isn’t theirs. Photos of the baby show up in her text messages, then disappear before she can show Apollo, who begins to doubt her sanity.
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Stanfield, so great in 'Atlanta' and other projects, carries the series
It’s unsettling — Backo expertly navigates shifts in mood, as authentic at playing happiness when she meets Apollo as she depicts the terror of unmooring from reality — and an unthinkable development moves things squarely into horror territory.
And then Emma disappears.
From there, the series follows Apollo’s search for his wife, which leads him and the story to truly unexpected places. His guide, sort of, is a children’s book his father read him before he vanished: “To the Waters and the Wild.” It begins with fairies eating children. Dr. Seuss, it’s not.
William Wheeler (Samuel T. Herring, the singer for Future Islands), a strange man Apollo meets in a therapy session, tags along with Apollo on his search. Eventually, they meet up with Cal (Jane Kaczmarek, excellent), who protectively holds the answers to some secrets. But not all.
'The Changeling' taps into primal parental fears
If it sounds a little all over the place, that’s because it is. But it also understands the fear parents face. It is impossible to believe you’re always doing it right; sometimes it’s difficult to think you ever are. It’s a primal fear, one that doesn’t typically manifest itself the way it does here, thankfully. But it’s there.
The series revolves around Stanfield, though he’s absent from several key scenes (including an episode mostly given over to Adina Porter, who plays Apollo’s mother, which is remarkable).
So great in “Atlanta” and “Sorry to Bother You” and just about everything else he appears in, Stanfield here gets to truly stretch. There is a loose-limbed appeal to his performances, and that’s true here.
Even when a scene is hard to watch, Stanfield never is. And he’s a major reason “The Changeling” is worth sticking with. So far, at least.
How to watch 'The Changeling'
The first three episodes stream on Apple TV+ on Friday, Sept. 8, with a new episode debuting each Friday after that.
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X, formerly known as Twitter: @goodyk.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'The Changeling' review: Parents can relate to Apple TV+ horror series
