In just under a week, the long-awaited premiere of Locke & Key will be arriving on Netflix. After years in development, the streaming giant ordered the property straight-to-series and Saturday morning, critics and reviewers who had early access to the show were able to publicly share their thoughts for the first time.
For the most part, initial reactions are generally positive across the board with the biggest critiques coming in the show’s deviation from its source material — the IDW comic book series from Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. Much like the comic book, the Locke Family returns to an old family homestead where sinister events begin to unfold one by one. While a Rotten Tomatoes score isn’t available just quite yet, every review uploaded as of now has been positive.
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Keep scrolling to see what critics are saying about the series. Will you be binging Locke & Key in its first weekend on Netflix? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
ComicBook.com
“Locke and Key isn’t a perfect adaptation of the comic series, something that might be for the better in this case. Instead of going full-on horror, it’s apparent Netflix wanted to cast the widest net possible and get fans from all walks of life. After all, there is a little something for everyone here.
The show has its issues and struggles with a few pacing hiccups late in the season after some needed exposition and origin tales pop up too late. Every scripting shortfall is overshadowed by the cast’s strong delivery and line reads. Even then, this show makes an iron-clad argument on why it should be one of Netflix’s flagships moving forward, even more so in a world of cluttered comic book adaptations. At the very least, the streamer has made something well worth the wait, provoking a strong desire for more.”
Read our full review here.
Entertainment Weekly
“It can be intimidating to delve into a show based on beloved intellectual property if you’re not familiar with the source material, but Locke & Key presented no barriers to entry for this newcomer. In the interest of due diligence, I grilled longtime Locke & Key comics fan Christian Holub (who watched all 10 episodes as well); he characterizes the series as a faithful adaptation with a few notable updates. (The “Gender Key” and “Skin Key” that allowed characters to change their sex or race in the comics, for example, have been combined into the “Identity Key,” which lets the user shape-shift into any person her or she likes.)”
Read the full review here.
Decider
“And that, in essence, is what I’m most excited about with the premiere of Locke & Key. As someone who has loved the books for so long, the TV show doesn’t feel like a replacement for the books, it feels like an additional chapter, or an alternate take. They’re two stories titled Locke & Key, with enough similarities to please fans of both, and enough differences to make the book and TV show satisfying for fans of either. Locke & Key is poised to be the next big Netflix obsession, and rightly so. Happily, it’s going to leave viewers hungry to continue the story, and the excellent comics are right there for the taking. Welcome to Keyhouse, everyone. You’ve just unlocked a whole new world of excitement.”
Read the full review here.
Collider
“Locke & Key often doesn’t go through its most interesting doors. Which is frustrating, because it is asking really intriguing questions. Some on a micro level, like how exactly a family re-forms after an unimaginable tragedy. And some on an extremely macro level, thanks to the Head Key, which offers a person the chance to literally pull an unwanted emotion out of their brain. (The Head Key is also responsible for the show’s trippiest, most Black Mirror-like visuals, and I respect it for that.)
But the show isn’t as interested in exploring these concepts as it is in using them as a step toward the next Big Plot Point. That, again, is the Netflix effect, and I can’t help but imagine a Locke & Key that’s released weekly, giving an audience some time to chew through its meatier ideas under a lens where its inconsistencies aren’t so glaring. As is, it’s a perfectly fun, flighty dark fantasy that hasn’t quite unlocked its full potential.”
Read the full review here.
Den of Geek
“Locke & Key is YA friendly then, but don’t expect it to be kiddy. Writer Joe Hill, who is an exec producer on the show, is the son of Stephen King and a master of the macabre in his own right and Locke & Key has a formidable antagonist in Laysla De Oliveira’s ‘Dodge’. A gorgeous, seductive, ruthless demon, Dodge sets out her stall early on when she pushes a random child in front of a subway train without a thought. Dodge cares nothing for human life and gets a kick out of torturing adorable young Bode.”
Read the full review here.
/Film
“Locke & Key is immensely rewarding for fans who have waited years for an adaptation of the comic, and it remains an intriguing and twisting tale of trauma and magic that will captivate a whole new audience. Let’s just hope that the door to this world stays open for years to come.”
Read the full review here.
Bloody Disgusting
“There are enough nods, plot points, and Easter eggs that pay respects to the comics, but Cuse and Averill aim to entice a wider audience with a series geared toward family binge viewing on Netflix. It likely won’t appease the diehard genre fans, but it does offer a solid entry point for the budding fan. One that hints at growing darker and more Lovecraftian as the series progresses. Locke & Key is a bit sluggish to start, but it’s at least headed in the right direction.”
Read the full review here.
