LaKeith Stanfield Is Magnetic Throughout Apple TV’s Inconsistent The Changeling: Review
The post LaKeith Stanfield Is Magnetic Throughout Apple TV’s Inconsistent The Changeling: Review appeared first on Consequence.
The Pitch: “There are portals in this world we may never know we trespassed through,” says our narrator in Apple TV’s The Changeling. “Would you even know if you crossed into a fairytale?”
The Changeling is adapted from a book of the same name by Victor LaValle (and the author himself also serves as our aforementioned narrator). Thanks to the title, right off the bat we know some dark magic is going to be at play, and over the course of eight episodes, all of which were provided for review, we spend time in a slightly askew New York City.
Our hero here is Apollo Kagwa, a truly incredible role for LaKeith Stanfield, who often stole the show on the similarly eerie and offbeat Atlanta over the years and nailed the dread of Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Apollo refers to himself as the God Apollo, refusing to accept simple defeats easily — he’s a rare books dealer, and falls for a New York librarian, Emma (a wondrous and layered Clark Backo).
While witnessing Apollo and Emma’s love story, which really takes flight after Emma returns from an extended exploration through the mysterious jungles of Brazil, we’re also introduced to Apollo’s parents’ love story via flashback, and, at first, the generational romances seem to bear parallels. But Apollo’s father disappeared when he was young, leaving him to be raised by his mother, Lillian (Adina Porter).
As such, Apollo is determined to be the very best father he can be, and when he and Emma marry and welcome their son Brian, most daily childcare responsibilities fall with him. Emma returns to work and soon spirals from exhibiting symptoms of extreme postpartum depression into something far more sinister. Eventually, Emma concludes that the baby in their home is not her baby — and maybe not even a baby at all.
For, during her time in Brazil, Emma approached a woman who lives along the banks of a forbidden waterfall, much to the dismay of the locals, who warned her that the unearthly presence was a witch. But Emma perseveres, and the woman leaves her with a red thread tied around her wrist, noting that she can make three wishes, which will all come true if Emma waits for the thread to fall on its own. But upon her return to New York, Apollo makes a bold choice — and cuts the thread clean off.
The Changeling (Apple TV+)
Dreams Made Real: While this sounds like a lot of exposition (and it is!), The Changeling does a great job of building dread just about from the outset, while also endearing us to these characters. Apollo is obsessed with a book his father used to read him, which opens with a terrifying passage: “Babies are dreams made real/ But dreams are faeries’ favorite meal.” With Apollo always searching for rare books and Emma working in the library, these two are constantly, literally surrounded by words and fairytales — it’s a reminder that stories are all around us, and The Changeling takes it a step further and brings some of the fables into the real world.
As the show goes on, it’s hard to tell how much of what we’re seeing is supposed to be interpreted as really happening, and what is imagined by these characters. Are there actually covens of witches hiding in plain sight off the banks of the Hudson, or are these just women who have left more conventional aspects of society behind? Are people actually wielding magic, or are we meant to interpret these visual cues as metaphors for the superhuman feats of parenting? The show never quite decides, and what starts out as fun and intriguing only becomes more befuddling as time goes on.
Similarly, there’s great promise in Episode 7, dedicated as a standalone to Lillian, Apollo’s mother. It’s a stellar showcase for both Porter, who plays her in the present day, along with Alexis Louder, who portrays her in flashback. It’s a wonderful episode of television and fantastic work from both actresses, but just as something concrete arrives, the rug is pulled out.
Believing in Things We Don’t Understand: For more tender-hearted viewers, it’s worth mentioning that the third episode is where things get quite gruesome. While none of the most harrowing acts are shown outright on screen, the implications here are stomach-churning — even if by this point we’re led to believe that baby Brian, as Emma insists, is not a baby.
In addition to the strong performances and interesting characterization, the show shines brightest when it isn’t trying to over-explain itself. The central mystery — what is going on with baby Brian? — is easily the most compelling, and the comparatively grounded horror elements that occur with this plot line are The Changeling‘s best. As the rifts between Apollo and Emma grow larger and larger, the viewer is put in the position of deciding who to believe. Here, a mother and father are pushed to the extremes of protecting their child, and each one thinks they’re doing the right thing. Just because one looks scarier than the other, does it have to mean that person is the one in the wrong?
The Changeling (Apple TV+)
If You’re Looking for a Sign: Unfortunately, when trying to widen our lens and dive into some of the larger curiosities surrounding our central family, things lose enormous amounts of narrative steam. By the end of the eighth episode (the final episode of Season 1), a deeply unsatisfying cliffhanger and some winks at some over-arching mythologies at play fail to tie the many threads into something cohesive. As the viewer, we get stuck in a cycle of reaching a point where it looks like we’re about to get some answers, only for things to stop short every time.
It’s clear the showrunners envisioned the penultimate episode dedicated to Lillian’s journey as one featuring a few big reveals, but even those moments raise more questions. This isn’t to say that a handful of unsolved mysteries, as well as set-up for future endeavors, is always going to be a bad thing — but if we’re going to sacrifice time away from the most compelling aspects of the show, it better be for a really good reason, and that’s just not the case here.
The Verdict: It’s a shame, because the show is gorgeous to look at. These actors are so interesting, and the fact that The Changeling is narrated by LaValle is a great touch. While everyone involved here does a great job of merging horror and fantasy elements with what feels like a very real and tangible New York City, the later episodes spend time half-answering questions, and not the ones that are most pressing.
It’s another great showcase for LaKeith Stanfield, who can absolutely thrive as a leading man — but unless a second installment of The Changeling majorly focuses its lens, audiences might decide that some mysteries are better left unsolved.
Where to Watch: The first three episodes of The Changeling premiere Friday, September 8th on Apple TV+. New episodes will be released weekly.
Trailer:
LaKeith Stanfield Is Magnetic Throughout Apple TV’s Inconsistent The Changeling: Review
Mary Siroky
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