'Raised by Wolves' Review: Amanda Collin delivers spellbinding performance in HBO Max's haunting sci-fi drama
Ridley Scott's 'Raised by Wolves' is a bleak, slow-paced, and hauntingly beautiful series. The new HBO Max sci-fi drama series is an exploration of religious zealotry, and what it means to be a parent, all through the lens of dystopic science fiction at its best. Paired with some truly breathtaking performances, most notably by Amanda Collin as Mother, HBO adds another gem to its growing list of poignant, memorable television series.
'Raised by Wolves' tells the story of a world that's trying to survive the aftermath of religious wars between atheists and the Christian-like Mithraics, who worship Sol. Their war destroyed the Earth, and all that is left of humanity has been shipped to Kepler 22B, the closest viable planet to start a new life. There are two ships that head out: a larger Mithraic ship, filled with hundreds of believers, and a much smaller ship, piloted by two androids known only as Mother (Amanda Collin) and Father (Abubakar Salim), who bear 12 human embryos meant to jumpstart an atheistic society.
Mother and Father have their own challenges raising their children; however, their optimism slowly dims as they're helpless to stop their children from dying, one by one, until only the runt of the litter, Campion (Winta McGrath) remains as the sole survivor. The first episode is largely a slow-paced, almost self-contained story about those first years bringing the children to term, establishing a small colony, Mother's slow unraveling as her children die, one by one, and finally her interactions with the Mithraic scouts when their ark finally reaches Kepler 22B thirteen years later.
The bare-bones setting of Kepler 22B boils down the themes explored to their most raw form. Though Mother has the destructive power to wipe out entire civilizations, the minor interactions between her and Father read more closely to that of a struggling suburban couple. Mother is the clear job-focused breadwinner, making her sacrifices to keep her family alive, with Father as the stay-at-home dad, challenged by Mother's power, doing his best to be of value to his family in a way that he sees fit. This family expands when Mother destroys the Mithraic arc in a truly horrific display of power and kidnaps five Mithraic children to replace the ones she'd lost.
The story is told side by side with that of Caleb (Travis Fimmel) and his wife Sue (Niamh Algar), atheists who adopted the identities of high-ranking Mithraic members, whose fight becomes personal after one of the children that Mother kidnaps is Paul. While scenes involving Mother and Father explore themes of family, and the responsibilities and complicates of raising children, Caleb and Sue are the more typical action hero protagonists, staying undercover while surrounded by religious fundamentalists.
It's a slow-moving story that picks its moments beautifully. Its philosophical explorations are supported by the cast's phenomenal acting. Special note goes to Collin and Salim, whose portrayal of polite, neutral androids slowly succumbing to an infection of genuine human emotion is a wonder to behold. Amanda Collin in particular gives the performance of a lifetime, portraying a wide range of emotions, both faked and real, bearing the weight of a lot of the series' storytelling with her facial expressions alone. The androids' clean, futuristic mannerisms slowly give way to more and more clear emotiveness as the series go on, and the way that evolution can be tracked is brilliant.
The show is filled with fascinating characters. You have the heroic, the petty, the hopeful, those who are just trying to survive, and those dealing with more trauma than they know how to handle. It's a perfect blend of characters who each have their own complex motivations that fill the show with incredibly rich storytelling. Nearly every character can be picked apart for a longer, more thoughtful examination.
'Raised by Wolves' is a series that draws you in with its breathtaking photography, its serene yet unsettling music, and its hypnotically compelling performances. It engages you with its storytelling on philosophical, spiritual, and psychological levels. It is a masterclass in character development and the way its themes unfold make it one of the best series to come out this year, if not one of HBO Max's best shows, period. It is a series that demands a lot of emotional investment from its viewers, but it is absolutely worth it.
All episodes of 'Raised by Wolves' are now available on HBO Max.