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Disclaimer: ‘Welcome to Derry’ is recommended for viewers 16 and older.
When a little boy goes missing in his small town Derry, his school friends start to investigate the disappearance after one of them hears eerie sounds through the pipes. It doesn’t take a lot of time for the kids to figure out something really bad is happening in their small town.
Based on Stephen King’s story, episode one of the horror series ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ kicks off with a violent cold open, as Matty Clements’ (Miles Ekhardt) decision to hitch a ride goes terribly wrong. What follows is such wild supernatural mayhem that you half expect Matty to wake up from a nightmare, but instead, the story jumps ahead four months, and Matty is nowhere to be found.
Schoolgirl Lilly (Clara Stack) gets spooked when she hears Matty’s voice singing in her bathroom and turns to Matty’s nerdy friends Terry (Mikkal Karim Fidler) and Phil (Jack Molloy Legault), hoping they’ll believe her. So the primary mystery is instantly set in motion: maybe Matty isn’t gone, just trapped in the sewers… or worse, being kept somewhere against his will.
Phil, a laid-back conspiracy buff, injects some much-needed comic relief with his outlandish theories in an otherwise tense episode, though he couldn’t care less about Matty’s fate. Terry, on the other hand, is weighed down by guilt and concern for his missing friend, so he joins Lilly in searching for answers. Not one to miss out, Phil reluctantly tags along for the ride.
The trio play detective, their research leading to Ronnie (Amanda Christine), the last person believed to have seen Matty alive. Unfortunately, the more the children try to solve the mystery, the more nightmarish their ordeal becomes. You know, they witness the kind of gore and violence a lifetime of therapy won’t undo.
Beyond the “missing boy” arc, the pilot episode of ‘Welcome to Derry’ also introduces Major Leroy (Jovan Adepo), a War pilot looking to start a new life with his family in Derry. Though they’ve yet to appear, we’re told he has a young son who may soon encounter the same terrors stalking the other town kids.
Minor flaws aside, which includes a choppy pace and kids who talk like mini adults, ‘Welcome to Derry’ makes a terrific first impression. The atmosphere, visuals, and effects pull you right in. If you’re into ‘Stranger Things’, give this a shot. Stephen King, after all, wrote the blueprint for kids fighting monsters long before the Duffer brothers showed up.
Watch ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ on JioHotstar.
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