Jordan Peele's new supernatural horror series is airing now on HBO. Unsurprisingly, it's received some rave reviews.
For Australians, it's streaming on Binge on Monday nights. The first episode aired on August 17 and the next one is due August 24.
Since watching the trailer, we can't help but notice it's part horror, part parable for the current state of the world. While the series is based on the book by Matt Ruff, the trailer makes it starkly obvious that the most insidious theme at play is the terrifying reality of being a BIPOC in America in 1950's Jim Crow era and today.
Produced by Jordan Peele, J.J. Abrahams and Misha Green, Lovecraft country follows a young Black army veteran named Atticus, played by Jonathan Majors, who embarks on a journey to look for his father, played by Michael K. Williams through the simply frightening H.P. Lovecraft forests in 1950's New England. Atticus and his families journey takes them through ZIP codes where White Supremacy is rampant, and where supernatural, paranormal creatures hide in the shadows.
The series’ focus on race could not be more relevant right now, with protests in every state of the US calling for racism-fuelled police brutality and hate crimes driven by white supremacy to end, in the wake of George Floyd's death. The trailer features scenes in the Lovecraft Forest, and allusion to horror author H.P. Lovecraft where, in his novel, The Outsider the narrator tells of his environment: a dark, decaying castle amid an "endless forest" of high trees that block out the light from the sun. H.P. Lovecraft himself was a vocal racist during his life and racist themes are apparent in all of his works. His stories may be science-fiction and horror, but they are undeniably linked to their racist history, as shown so poignantly in Lovecraft Country, or at least what we've previewed of it.
As we watch the US revolt against the systemic racism that has stained the country (and our own) for centuries, Lovecraft Country couldn't come at a more eerily notable time. The trailer below shows exactly why.
