On May 4, 2026, TV mini series “Lord of the Flies” released on Netflix, a uniquely cinematic retelling of the famous classic novel of the same name written by William Golding. The series was adapted by Jack Thorne, who also recently wrote the hit series “Adolescence,” which has received a showering of awards, including 9 Emmys. While the “Lord of Flies” series has not received a lot of attention, especially outside of England, I found it to be a great retelling of such a beloved story. 

The series follows the general story beats of the novel well, where many young British school children make a crash landing on a tropical island. All adults perish in the accident, so the boys are on their own until rescue comes. One of the boys, Ralph, initially makes a stand to be a leader, and while the rest follow him for a while, the circumstances quickly change. A separate faction headed by Jack arises, and in a struggle for order and power, things turn bloody and the properness of these British children vanishes. 

The mini series consists of 4 episodes, each about an hour long. Every episode is named after one of the main characters: Piggy (David McKenna), Jack (Lox Pratt), Simon (Ike Talbut), and Ralph (Winston Sawyers). Throughout these four episodes, Golding’s classic tale unfolds as we watch a group of civilized British school children turn to savages after a crash landing on a tropical island. 

One of my biggest praises for this series are the performances of all the young actors. Going into the show, I was initially worried that because all the characters are children, the show would suffer from poor acting and shallow emotional depth. However, I was very wrong in this assumption, as every actor did a phenomenal job, and the series really shined as a result. The four main characters all put their entire heart into their roles, and in particular I thought Lox Pratt, who played Jack, excelled. Pratt was able to masterfully display the nuances and complexities of Jack, who through fear and the deterioration of society, lets his darkness within overcome him in a descent towards savagery. All in all, every actor truly puts on a show, and many scenes like the pig hunt or the party scene felt so poignant and harrowing because of the performances. 

Another aspect that really stuck with me was the music. This series is packed with stellar music that raises the tensions ten-fold and exacerbates every emotional beat of the story. A common online critique is that the music is “too much”, but I disagree wholeheartedly. While the music is certainly a present force throughout the series, I think it was absolutely necessary. There were many instances where the serene yet chilling choral songs or the frantic and dissonant orchestral pieces had me completely floored in shock and awe. Without the music, I think the story would fall somewhat flat on screen.

The cinematography also stands out as another high point. In an age where all television is turning muted with muddled greys, “Lord of the Flies” challenges that with colors that are vivid and striking, adding to the energy and tension of the story. Not only that, but distorted camera angles and various unique shots combined to be a fascinating creative choice that made this adaptation unique. 

I also enjoyed how much emphasis this adaptation took in more deeply exploring the characters and their humanity as it becomes stripped away. Through some very introspective flashbacks, the viewer can further understand characters like Ralph or Simon, and why they begin to make the choices they do. At its core, the original purpose of the novel was examining the internal evil that lurks within, and I think the choice to further investigate the stranded boys helps to flesh out that idea even more. 

One minor flaw that became apparent, however, was that the pacing of the show dragged on in certain moments. There are moments scattered throughout the series, like Jack climbing like the cliff face, where the action completely comes to a halt, and all the tension that was built up in the previous scenes is deflated. This isn’t to say that action is necessary at all times, but in these instances, I couldn’t find any meaningful reason for their presence, and it’s possible they were there to fluff out run time. 

The ending of the series was also a slight disappointment. In the novel, once Ralph and all the other boys come face to face with the Navy officer rescuing them, they break into tears and intense anguish over what has transpired on the island. In the series, however, instead of immense emotional cries, the boys simply drop their bloodied spears and torches to run to their rescue. It seemed like a huge emotional chunk was taken out, and in general was a rushed ending. 

These minor faults aside, giving this new series a try is absolutely worth the time, as its creative reimagination of such a culturally important and thought provoking piece of literature is something that you can’t miss.