The Clearing Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2 Review: The Season of Unfoldment/ Kindred

If you’re looking for a dark psychological thriller, Hulu has you covered with its new Australian import The Clearing. The Clearing Season 1 Episode 1, “The Season of Unfoldment” and Episode 2, “Kindred” are available to stream now with weekly releases to follow.

Based on the best-selling book by J.P. Pomare, the show is inspired by the story of a real-life cult. The series weaves two timelines together with one woman at the center of events.

Teresa Palmer stars as Freya, whose initial relation to the cult is unclear. What is clear is that she’s hiding from something, or someone, and it leads her to a paranoid life devoted to protecting her son Billy.

The setting and lighting of the series make every attempt to match the grim tone of the show. It’s dreary and overcast, making you seriously wonder how Freya manages to take her swims to the bottom of the lake without freezing.

As Freya unravels at the news report of a recent kidnapping, we see a kidnapping unfold where a little girl is taken to a home full of eerily bleached blonde children. Although it’s not a horror movie, it’s hard to not be creeped out by the children’s appearance and brainwashed behavior as part of the cult “The Kindred.”

What prevents The Clearing from sliding into the well-trodden territory of a plodding depressing mystery masquerading as a prestige drama is its ability to hook the viewer from the jump. On her own Freya might not initially be the most compelling protagonist, but you’ll immediately start speculating how the two plots are connected.

Rather than dragging out that speculation, The Clearing chooses to reveal her connection by the end of Episode 1 setting up the tension for the rest of the series. If the rotary phone in the cult scenes isn’t enough of a clue (I’ll admit it wasn’t for me, I thought it is just a cult quirk), the show reveals the kidnapping we’ve seen so far is happening in the past.

When Freya goes to visit an old woman we recognize to be the leader of the cult Adrienne (Miranda Otto), it clicks into place that she is actually the future Amy (played as a child by Julia Savage), a cult member charged with caring for the kidnapped girl.

Without a central detective figure (though there is one on the sidelines, Joe played by Hazeem Shammas), the audience is left to be the detective for this twisted mystery. Is Freya a reliable narrator? Why is she still in contact with Adrienne in the present day despite telling others she isn’t? Why is she afraid her son is going to be taken away?

And most importantly, who is behind the latest kidnapping if the cult is apparently now disbanded?

All these questions will make you want to tune into Episode 2, where the audience gets a chance to see more of the workings of the cult and young Amy and Adrienne. The cult storyline is bolstered by a magnetic performance from Otto as Adrienne

For those who caught her turn as Aunt Zelda on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, you already know how compelling she can be when playing a leader. The Clearing takes those traits and twists them into something more sinister.

It keeps the mystery around Adrienne through these first episodes but it’s not hard to tell what kind of person she is. She is using loopholes to adopt children and speaks cruelly to her followers.

Her drugging children as a part of “the clearing” ritual that the cult uses to initiate followers is also not great.

Beyond this baseline evil, we don’t know her motivations yet. Her followers refer to her as “Maitreya” and the scheduled meditations nod to Buddhist teachings, but it’s hard to believe enlightenment is this woman’s only goal.

We do know that her bond with Amy/Freya is special and seeing those scenes play out in both timelines is fascinating to watch. Adrienne’s intentions will drive this mystery forward for better or worse.

What did you think of these episodes of The Clearing? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

The Clearing airs Wednesdays on Hulu.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

Vote for Your Favorite TV Shows and Performers! The 2023 Tell-Tale TV Awards (Final Round)