The Matthews family’s road trip goes badly wrong…

From, created by John Griffin, is holding its cards close to its chest. From the first episode what I can tell you is that there are definite horror tropes reminiscent of the recent 2017 film The Endless from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. There are other series and movies that this also clearly calls out to, not least Shyamalan’s 2004 The Village and Stephen King’s 2009 novel Under the Dome.

None of the above is bad because it’s far too early to tell what else is going on.

All we can say for sure is that there is a small town that’s been cut off from the outside world, seemingly without any way to communicate or escape. It’s clear the town has been this way some time and the production design captures this sense really well – from paint peeling to a lack of working motor vehicles.

The show does a good job of laying out the stakes pretty early and here it earns its horror credentials rather smartly and lets us see the world building without ladling it on hard.

The show is an ensemble, with several significant characters all getting time and development in this first hour. We have a sheriff, his deputy, an EMT, a priest plus one or two others. Their presence is welcome and although none of them get too much space to develop, it’s clear we’re going to learn a lot about the town and its history through their relationships.

Into this mix come outsiders.

The town has a good sense of how to welcome outsiders, what they’re going to go through when they discover they can’t leave and how to make sure that process is as smooth as possible.

Moreover, the town looks like it may well be made up of outsiders, that there may be none of the original inhabitants left which is deeply creepy.

The season opener also gives us monsters (barely glimpsed, which are often the best type), fools, cracked relationships and a township under intense pressure. Add to this our family of outsiders who may or may not be what others assume and we have a recipe for something exciting.

Verdict: The show seems content to hold what’s coming tight in its grasp right now and that’s fine. What we have here is a slow burn opening episode – not astonishing but solid and with a depth I think and hope will pay off by the end. I will be back for more because there’s no way I can live with not finding out who or what is keeping the town imprisoned.

Rating? 7 out of 10.

Stewart Hotston