'Lord of the Flies': Netflix drops release date for psychological fiction and it's sooner than you think
'The Lord of the Flies' is back, this time in the form of a TV series. Based on William Golding's iconic 1954 novel of the same name, the dystopian drama first aired on the BBC in the U.K. in February. It will be available to stream on Netflix on May 4. Created and written by Emmy winner Jack Thorne, with Marc Munden, the series follows a group of English schoolboys who survive a plane crash on a tropical island, with the survival of the fittest theme kicking in. How they navigate their way to stay alive while battling their darkest instincts forms the crux of the story.
Starring are Winston Sawyers as Ralph, Lox Pratt as Jack, David McKenna as Piggy, Ike Talbut as Simon, Thomas Connor as Roger, Noah Flemyng as Sam, Cassius Flemyng as Eric, Cornelius Brandreth as Maurice, Tom Page-Turner as Bill, Rafael de Belligny as Robert, Lake Coleman as Boy with Birthmark, Freddie Lee-Grey as Percival, Beau Thompson as Philip, Fred Jones as Johnny, Rory Kinnear as Ralph's Father Rochelle Neil as Ralph's Mother, Daniel Mays as Fred, and Tom Goodman-Hill as Naval Officer. Adding to the impressive roster is Hans Zimmer as the music composer, along with Kara Talve and Cristobal Tapia de Veer. Rounding up the EP list alongside Thorne and Munden are Joel Wilson, Jamie Campbell, Nawfal Faizullah, and Cailah Scobie. Thorne is best known for his work on 'Adolescence', 'Enola Holmes', and 'His Dark Materials.'
The official logline reads, "Following a plane crash, a group of young boys become stranded on a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean in the early 1950s. Ralph attempts to lead the boys, with help from the intellectual 'Piggy,' in the hope of surviving and seeking rescue, but Jack starts a rebellion, and their makeshift society starts to fall apart." The series comprises four episodes, and filming took place in Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
In related news, Pratt, who plays Jack in the series, teased his character in a conversation with THR: "When Marc [Munden] and I started exploring the character, he said he really liked Malcolm McDowell from A Clockwork Orange," he said. "So I looked at his swagger, and there’s a little bit of Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders [in him], the way he takes up a lot of physical space." The series opened to positive reviews from critics, and with Netflix as the streaming platform, 'The Lord of the Flies' is set to garner more eyeballs in the US and worldwide.
