Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Keeley Hawes, Max Beesley, Aisling Loftus, Ukweli Roach, Lara Rossi, Synnove Karlsen, Hannah Tointon, Rebekah Staton, Mark Dexter, Marianne Oldham, Lewis Reeves, India Amarteifio, Cherrelle Skeete, Amy Cuddon, Samuel West, Dexter Sol Ansell, Laura Doddington, Georgia Thorne, Jade Harrison, Scarlett Leigh, Erin Ainsworth, Billie Gadsdon, Evan Scott, Kaylen Luke, Natalia Harris, Aditi Pothuganti.
The world created by John Wyndham deserves the praise he achieved in his lifetime, and the respect he has posthumously garnered and maintained in the decades since his passing in 1969.
If James Herbert is the Godfather of British Horror, and H G Wells the patriarch of the country’s love of Science Fiction, then the offspring, the seemingly reluctant genius child of this pairing is Warwickshire born and south England bred master of the genre, John Wyndham.
If you are old enough, indeed curious enough to remember and delve into the archive of classic films adapted by cinema, both Wells’ and Wyndham stand out for their sincerity, especially on the Rod Taylor’s inspired performance in The Time Machine, and Wolf Rilla’s The Village Of The Damned; however, if the viewer moves away from the 50s and 60s nostalgia of the late Golden period of cinematic storytelling, and into the world of the latter half of the old century and into the 21st Century, it seems that history has been kinder to Wyndham that it has been to Herbert George Wells.
Aside from Jeff Wayne’s musical epic which captured the soul of The War Of The Worlds, almost any attempt to re-immerse and thrill the fan of the Victorian and Edwardian writer has fallen, almost with shame, upon its knees in a vile act of desperation and damage control; whereas John Wyndham, whilst not having as many dedicated followers willing to commit his work to the screen, has witnessed one incredible adaption of The Day Of The Triffids in 1981 starring John Duttine, and now as we are more conscious of our impact on our world and those that may look upon this depleted, often barren scene, we are reminded more than ever of the power of John Wyndham’s imagination and foresight.
The Midwich Cuckoos is perhaps a tale fit for the times, one that echoes of the post war surroundings in which the children who saw as children the senseless butchery created by the evil of Nazism and in which those who grew to adulthood in the wake of the post Victorian-era could not understand why their own offspring could not follow the time ordered path saved for them, and the parallels of today, the moving away from the scripted narrative in which Generation X fought off sterility and confirmed generality, and the embrace of what can only be described as the hive mind of those who seek to shape their world in their own youthful image.
This seven-part adaption starring Keeley Hawes, Max Beasley, Samuel West, and the consummate Lara Rossi, is brought respectively to the screen by David Farr, and by maintaining the suspense and inner fear of the original novel, albeit successfully transplanted in time to a more contemporary setting, proves that in the right hands, the cross over between Science Fiction and British Rural Horror can be navigated with sincerity and belief.
The fear of our children listening to a greater power that we cannot perceive, of being more in tune with each other than with those who nurtured their early steps upon this Earth is one that is palpable, and always ongoing, we cannot alter the way society unfolds and evolves, to prevent, to place obstacles in the way of change is to be counter intuitive to the species as a whole; and yet we fear it, deep down when we witness the look we are given when cultures, when generations collide, we are frightened; and it is to this acknowledgement that The Midwich Cuckoos not only works, but excels in its drama and persuasion of inner terror.
A terrific adaptation, one brought to the screen with sheer poise and spirit, one that upholds Wyndam’s legacy.
Ian D. Hall