Jack Thorne, the acclaimed screenwriter behind Netflix's 'Adolescence', has turned his attention to William Golding's classic novel 'Lord of the Flies' for a new four-part television series. The adaptation, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, retains the original's period setting and upper-crust British vernacular, but presents a fresh and distinct take on the widely-studied story.
The series follows a group of schoolboys whose plane crashes on a desert island, leading to a descent into violent anarchy and murderousness. Thorne's adaptation functions on two levels: as a tense, immersive thriller and as a dark philosophical inquiry into collective human behaviour. Each episode is told from a different character's point of view, lending intimacy to the narrative.
Director Marc Munden employs disorientating fish-eye-lens camerawork, Terrence Malick-style nature cutaways, and an over-saturated colour palette to create a hallucinogenic, nightmare-like quality. The score, by 'The White Lotus' composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer, adds to the discordant atmosphere.
The cast includes David McKenna as the doomed Piggy, making his professional debut with a performance that imbues the character with charm and self-possession. Lox Pratt plays Jack, the entitled populist who forms a breakaway camp, capturing the vulnerability beneath his sneering bravado. Thorne also provides additional backstory for main characters through flashbacks, though the archetypal dynamics remain the series' disturbing core.
Currently screening on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer in the UK, 'Lord of the Flies' will be available on Netflix in the US at a later date. The series is described as far from a children's story, but suitable for enlightening family viewing.
