Lovecraft Country (2020)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Lovecraft Country (2020) – M. Green

When this series captures the uncanny or the full-blown weird, evocative of the pulp tales of Lovecraft or others toiling in the genre in the 1920s & 30s, it really hits the spot.  But integrating this weirdness into immediately pre-Civil Rights era America is the masterstroke that allows creator Misha Green not only to address Lovecraft’s racism but to forcefully depict and denounce the true horrors facing African-Americans (expect a lot of anachronistic intertextuality, including speeches, music, etc.). Each episode adopts a different genre or multiple genres (haunted house, science fiction, adventure, etc.) that we know and love from pulp but invest them with extra layers for the sociologically minded. The most interesting from that angle is probably the one where Ruby takes the potion that allows her to appear white for a short time, seeing the world through the eyes of the privileged – and then molting this new skin in the gory and grotesque way of the modern horror film. This combination of genre and politics is reminiscent of Jordan Peele’s work (esp. Get Out) and he served as producer on the series (as did J. J. Abrams).  There’s enough violence and sex and gruesomeness here to attract viewers who desire those things but at its heart, this is a family drama with Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, Michael K. Williams, and Aunjanue Ellis (among others) uniting to fight off the evil sorcerers of the secret society who seek immortality at the expense of our heroes. In truth, across the 10 episodes, not everything works, but it’s a noble effort, particularly if you are inclined to these genres.