Get ready to take a terrifying – yet hilarious – trip to Widow’s Bay on April 29, the new Apple TV + series that mixes horror with comedy and stars The Americans‘ Matthew Rhys.
The first reviews have dropped for the 10-part series, a gripping tale of hauntings, mysteries, and curses that have beset a New England island for centuries, and it has left the show with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing.
HELLO’s review of Widow’s Bay
Horror is not my favorite genre, and Widow’s Bay is full of terrifying jump scares, hitting every folk trope you can think of – the boogeyman, the sea hag, demonic possession, murderous clowns, haunted inns, and hidden passageways under the town.
Luckily, the first half of the season has a more comedy-filled pace; Katie Dippold’s script has such perfect comedic timing, brought to life by Matthew and his co-stars Kate O’Fynn and Stephen Root, that the genuinely discomforting moments are quickly alleviated, welcoming you into this weirdly wonderful world.
Yet it’s never at the cost of the gripping suspense; as the episodes roll on, and the fogs continue to roll in, the mystery deepens, with the show even deciding to dedicate an entire episode to a flashback for the origins of the island, as a mainland woman arrives to marry the then-Mayor, only to discover the dark secrets of her new community.
Underneath the horror and the comedy, however, is a startling story about second chances, grief, and the ways rot can seep into small-town communities. But with two devastating twists in the final episodes that come so out of the blue, can Tom free the island of its curse?
What do the reviews of Widow’s Bay say?
“The series leaves you watching through your fingers one moment and belly-laughing the next,” writes Slant magazine, while The Daily Beast called it a “charmingly ghoulish saga about a locale beset by the sins of the past… it’s also, to date, the best new show of the year.”
“Widow’s Bay artfully blends horror and comedy to create an enthralling portrait of a town you’ll want to get lost in,” read Mashable’s review, and Screen Rant recognized that while every horror trope is accounted for, they are masterfully woven together through the eyes of several of Widow’s Bay’s most quirky residents”.
Who stars in Widow’s Bay?
Matthew Rhys, Kate O’Flynn, and Stephen Root are the leads of Widow’s Bay.
“The world was so real, these people were so real, and yet the interweaving of the characters who had the same goals, but different ways of going about it… you knew there’d be great conflict coming from that to make great drama,” Matthew told HELLO! Of why he wanted to get involved.
“And the fact that you would laugh out loud reading it and also gasp, and have the more horrific moments. You just hope the audience would have the same experience in watching that we had reading and executing.”
Matthew and Stephen worked together on Perry Mason, and Stephen told HELLO! that he “had such a good time working with Matthew” that it made sense to say yes to a second project.
“The scripts were amazing, and the world was really clear,” added Kate. “It was a no brainer.”
What is Widow’s Bay about?
Matthew stars as Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), who is desperate to revive his struggling community, Widow’s Bay, to create a better future for his son and his peers. Tom ran uncontested, but he is not respected by the islanders, largely because of his desperate attempts to turn the island into a tourism hotspot, ignoring the locals who believe their island is cursed.
After a New York Times reporter recognizes the charm, the island becomes a success – but as the tourists return, the old stories that seemed too ludicrous to be true also reappear.
Widow’s Bay premieres April 29 on Apple TV.
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