Lovecraft Country surpasses original work with strong messages about prejudice

Last Sunday night (18), the final episode of Lovecraft Country, horror series HBO which has none other than JJ Abrams and Jordan Peele signing on as producers. Not coincidentally, this week I also “devoured” the work lovecraft territory, book that served as inspiration for the series. In the following review, I tell you the mistakes and successes of both that, in common, carry part of the past (and present!) prejudice in American territory.

Synopsis and production

divided into 10 episodes lasting about 1 hour, Lovecraft Country started airing in mid-August. In it, we accompany the protagonist Atticus (Jonathan Majors), a war veteran in the mid-1950s, on a trip across the United States in search of his lost father. Next to him is his childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett), his uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) and other relatives encountered mid-journey.

To the surprise of the adventurous trio, the racist side of the USA is just the tip of the iceberg of the biggest obstacles they will face, as there are (literal) monsters everywhere. With that, we slowly prepare ourselves for a mixture of the horror and fantasy genres, something that results in scenes filled with explicit violence, magic/alchemy and indiscreet nudges on the American segregationist face.

Lovecraft Country was written by Misha Green, responsible for the historical drama Underground railroad. Misha decided to base himself on the eponymous book by Matt Ruff, who arrived here in Brazil as lovecraft territory (R$47,50 for the hardcover edition at Amazon), launched earlier this year by Editora Intrinseca. Along with the screenwriter, the strong name of Jordan Peele became a major highlight for producing the program – after all, the public already trusts him after the success of Run! in 2017.

Peele took, in his award-winning horror film, the burden of shocking Americans with the current reality. as put by him in an interview with the New York Times, the movie is about "the lack of recognition of the existence of racism“. In large part, we have his influence reflected in the series, without fear of “giving back” at the necessary times. Anyone who follows HBO will notice that the political agenda is reminiscent of the spectacular anti-white supremacist production of Watchmen, launched exactly one year ago.

After all, why “Lovecraft”?

The name "Lovecraft” is due to the fact that the universe is based on tales by the famous author HP Lovecraft, regarded by many as the master of horror fiction. In short, he is praised to this day by fans of this subgenre he helped to found (the most famous tales are almost a century old), with surreal stories of chilling proportions. Not by chance, the “Lovecraftian horror” became a genre on its own.

We have few direct adaptations of his tales, but the most recent popular ones are the movie The Color That Fell from Space, starring Nicolas Cage, and the game Call of Cthulhu. In an indirect way, however, there is the great cultural impact of his works: the terrifying film The Enigma of Another World expresses the bizarre potential of their stories; HR Giger's art has an industrial and alien tone (which inspired the franchise Alien); and Lovecraft had a clear impact on Stephen King's fantasy writing, which has been adapted for TV and film.

Another very important factor for having this name is the fact that Lovecraft was racist, above average until the beginning of the 20th century. But Lovecraft only expressed prejudice, of beliefs of European superiority, in his letters and texts; he did not belong to any group of extremist activities, he was more discreet in his worldview. So there is an explicit irony of the title, because “Lovecraft Country” (direct translation of Lovecraft Country into Portuguese) gives the idea that the whole country is under the same ideology in order to treat black people with inferiority.

Lovecraft Country Is it true to the book?

By direct reference to the original work, I make the comparison in advance in the title of the review: this is a improved adaptation, which brings the essence of the first chapters, but changes the ending and essential arcs for the story to work in a visual way. In particular, the best creation of the series was the character Ji-Ah, a Korean who becomes the surprise protagonist of the sixth episode (Meet Me in Daegu).

A curious point is that the book was initially thought to be the script of a series, in 2007, for the fox studios. As is often the case in TV adaptations, the episodes are basically segmented in the same way that the book separates its chapters. The variety of characters results in unique focuses of the story, in third person, mostly based on dialogue.

On at least 30 pages at all lovecraft territory there are conversations between the protagonists telling stories – yes, one story within the other – a point that particularly forces a break in the rhythm of an atmosphere that had the potential to be much more fluid. Up to a point in the group's journey, about halfway through the work, we have fidelity to the details. However, an interesting dynamic is introduced from the beginning: what happens in the pages to an acquaintance of the protagonists, such as the police blitz on the escape from the County, in Lovecraft Country we see it happen to the main trio themselves.

No need to spoilers (neither from the book, nor from the series), I can say that the HBO version masterfully tied the story together, something that disappoints anyone who reads the original with the same context in mind.

It's worth watching?

Even those who don't know anything about the works of HP Lovecraft and haven't read the original book (by Matt Ruff) can understand the series in all its excellence. However, the context on alchemy and more complex terms is lacking. The lack of a more "chewed" explanation is also a strong problem with its inspiration base, so blaming the series alone would be a slight mistake.

In terms of technical issues, Lovecraft don't leave it in your hand. Visual effects of monsters and fantasy scenes do not detract from the immersion. Being a reality from the 1950s, everything is convincing, from the choice of scenarios to the look of the characters. In the writing itself we have a few pacing issues, with two episodes in particular being the slowest of the season. By the way, it works as a miniseries (closed) without a mandatory hook for a sequel, which pleases many viewers.

As is often the case in series HBO, a great suggestion is to stay tuned in the application HBO Extras (available in App Store e Play Store), the “second screen” that will make you understand much of the background, from the program. Comments made on American history are a large part of the content that Brazilians naturally will not pick up, so it's always good to have help from reliable sources without worrying about spoilers. In addition, you have complements about Lovecraftian creatures, so if you are interested in ancient tales, you can go back and increase your cultural baggage.

The weirdest thing is that they deliver a specific tone in the first episode that changes drastically from the second onwards, so don't be fooled. If you like a roller coaster of emotions then Lovecraft Country is perfect for you. The only weak point are certain episodes focused on secondary characters, leaving aside the main narrative skeleton. The excuse that it's "part of the suspense" doesn't work well when you have 10 episodes - and a complex story with scenarios that change with each episode - with multiple protagonists. Still, it's quite worth it.

Watch the complete first season of Lovecraft Country na HBO Go.