Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities - Full Review

At the end of December, I got around to watching the Cabinet of Curiosities. And it’s pretty damn good. But it’s also one of the most frustrating TV series I have ever watched.

Lot 36 is a decent enough introduction. Aside from being bullied by a nasty creditor, Nick, the main protag, doesn’t appear to be too much interesting, but he is fairly punished by the narrative for his flaws. Interesting concept, passable characters, some nice visuals. A decent watch.
Graveyard Rats is another good watch. The main protagonist, Masson is much more enjoyable to watch and lively, and his flaw is explored even more. The batshit insane premise unravels each minute more, and the cruel twist ending actually works. Though I can’t say it’s a particularly emotional watch… But good.
The Autopsy is good, but mostly due to the dynamic between the protagonist and antagonist. Another interesting concept is explored, and we start seeing genuinely disturbing and impressive practical and CGI work. Finally some positive ending.
The Outside is great. Peak Cabinet, I must say. Fan-tas-tic social satire combined with a believable corruption character arc and some great effects. The horror in this stuff is even more grotesque but thanks to a faithful psychological exploration of the main character, Stacey Chapman, it all makes sense in the context. Oh, and Kate Micucci is amazing in the main role.
The next episode, Pickman’s Model, suffers from a “Too Bleak” syndrome. It’s all nasty, depressing and drab without a justification. The theme fails. The main character, Richard Pickman, tries to convince the other main one, Will Thurber, that his grotesque paintings reflect the horror of real life. But it’s not true and they simply just mess with a person’s head. It’s technically understandable, given that Del Toro and co. were adapting a Lovecraftian short story, but such unapologetic darkness without anything to say – the only darkness in Pickman’s works is just some vague witch shit we don’t know is real for sure – falls flat. And the cruel twist ending SUCKS balls. MEDIOCRE.
Dreams in the Witch House is an improvement. A great return for Rupert Grint who flexes his skills here and some very convincing storytelling. But because it’s a Lovecraftian story, the plot must torture the characters and the viewers for no reason, and so the show pulls another cruel twist ending and it SUCKS EVEN HARDER because it makes even LESS sense and comes off as just distasteful. A decent episode.
The Viewing aroused me, then made me mad. The 80’s aesthetic and psychedelic vibes were a goddamn bullseye and the cinematography just hit me with its epic greatness. But, again, nothing really interesting is done with the characters, the payoff is glitzy, flashy, but ultimately generic bullshit, and it KILLS everyone AGAIN for no reason. Why bother offering something unexpected when you can go with a bland alien that shoots shitty CGI lasers and then SOMEHOW gets at large so that the story can have its “Hahaha and then the world got wrecked lel”. Fucking hell, it’s like the Life movie from 2017 all over again, minus the length and shitty CGI lasers. They wasted PETER WELLER and SOFIA BOUTELLA on this. This episode is only good for the acting and the visual technical side.
But the finale, the Murmuring, brings back the good feelings of the Outside again. We have a much better protagonist duo – Nancy and Edgar Bradley – whose conflicts and motivations are solid and compelling. The show finally isn’t afraid to let its characters experience a HAPPY ending and give us viewers some neat catharsis. I also appreciate showing the whole spiritual and emotional conflict through an ornithological lens.
Overall rating: 8.1/10