The miniseries from the creator of 'Adolescence' that will make you rethink childhood

BarcelonaA group of children between 5 and 12 years old are lost and isolated on a tropical island after a plane crash. Without adults to control them or pre-established rules, they try to govern themselves, but reality imposes itself: violence always finds a crack to slip through and inequalities always make their presence felt. This is the premise of Lord of the Flies, William Golding's dystopian novel from 1954, which now arrives as a miniseries on Movistar Plus+ (it premieres in full this Thursday, May 7). Behind the production, which bears the BBC's seal of approval, is Jack Thorne, co-creator of Adolescence, the Netflix miniseries that also revolves around how the youngest are drawn into violence and rage.

At the miniseries' presentation, Thorne emphasized the connection between Golding's text and the current moment experienced by children and young people worldwide. "I think, as a society, we are talking a lot right now about boys. We are losing a generation of boys and we are losing them because of the hate they are ingesting, because it is a response to their loneliness and isolation," he pointed out. The screenwriter assures that what interested him most about the book when he reread it as an adult was its tenderness. "I thought it was a tender portrait of many very complicated boys who have a complicated relationship with their status and their rage. I think it is the perfect distillation of our contemporary problem, with regard to the male condition," he summarizes.

A child cast

Filmed in the Langkawi archipelago, in Malaysia, the production features a cast of 30 children –many of them first-timers– who were mostly chosen through an open casting call that attracted 7,000 hopefuls. The actor selection process was led by casting director Nina Gold, who has worked on series such as Game of Thrones, The Crown, Baby Reindeer or Slow Horses. Working with minors involves very strict schedules and having to change processes to adapt to the number of hours they can work. "We couldn't film with the children after six, but a large part of the action takes place after dark. Mark Wolf [the director of photography] and I developed this idea of filming day as night with an infrared camera, which is why the green foliage turns pink and red. It has a hallucinatory feel, reinforced by magical realism," explains Marc Munden, director of the miniseries. In fact, beyond the story and the protagonists' performances, this adaptation stands out for its highly detailed visual presentation.

Despite being a largely ensemble series, there are four characters who carry the weight of the plot: Piggy, the voice of reason; Ralph, the leader who tries to be kind; Jack, who represents the use of force, and Simon, who represents spirituality. Of the four actors playing these roles, two already have major new television and film projects in the pipeline. David McKenna, who plays Piggy, will be in Greta Gerwig's Narnia adaptation, set to premiere in 2027. Lox Pratt, who is Jack, will be Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter series coming to HBO Max this Christmas.