Since the dawn of the world, Lord Morpheus, named Dream, has reigned over the realm of dreams. He is one of the seven Endless, with his siblings Death, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Delirium -formerly Delight, and another who has disappeared. Morpheus rarely ventures outside his kingdom. He knows all about humanity through dreams and nightmares, but has nothing human himself. The Corinthian, a nightmare and one of his best creations, escapes to the real world, where he starts killing humans. Dream joins him to take him back to his kingdom. But he is then captured by a spell. He, the super-powered immortal, finds himself imprisoned by an apprentice magician for over a century, until someone breaks the spell. Weakened by the loss of his objects of power, he returns to a kingdom in tatters. Only his faithful Lucienne remained, carrying the shattered kingdom at arm’s length. Meanwhile, the Corinthian continued to wreak havoc. Worse, a vortex, a human capable of destroying worlds, appeared.
A dark and powerful story
Based on Neil Gaiman’s DC comic books, the series is quite unique ! Like the kingdom of Morpheus, it blends wonder and horror, action and melancholy. The violence is sometimes raw (episode 5 is downright gory), sometimes suggested. The tone is dark and sad. I found it particularly hard to accept the death of animals (episodes 1, 2 and the cruel 11). The series shatters clichés, and doesn’t hesitate to go against morality. The episode on the convention of serial-killers (“collectors”), emulators of the Corinthian, is quite disturbing. But the series also plays on our fascination! It’s hard not to be impressed by the power of Lucifer. In the long run, despite the horror of his nature, we’ll even succumb to the seduction of the so handsome Corinthian.
“Saudade”, a bitter-sweet melancholy
The beautiful music alone perfectly reflects the spirit of the series. Morpheus seems indifferent to everything except his prerogatives as King of Dreams. Cool and beautiful, staring into the distance, never smiling, he is the embodiment of melancholy. His voice is so incredible and marvelous (watch the series in original version!) that you’d like nothing better than to fall asleep and enter his realm. Yet, forced to live among humans, he’ll discover their emotions, and experience them himself, despite himself. It’s his favorite sister, Death, who will explain to him the paradox of empathy and gentleness to accompany and endure the cruelty of human fate. After falling from his throne, the god is transformed and realizes that sadness and hope are inseparable.
The cast is impeccable, with special mention for Lucienne, Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie, perfect), Death, Desire and, of course, the two main protagonists! In fact, that’s my only regret: in 10 episodes, there are only two brief confrontations between Morpheus and the Corinthian. But season 2 leaves open the possibility of a sequel to their confrontation.
1 season, 10 episodes (60 mn) + 1 bonus, 2022 – , on Netflix
WITH :
- The Endless and the divinities: Tom Sturridge as Lord Morpheus / Dream, Mason Alexander Park as Desire, Kirby as Death + Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar, Cassie Clare as Mazikeen, Dinita Gohil as the Fate Maiden, Nina Wadia as the Fate Mother, Souad Faress as the Fate Crone, Melissanthi Mahut as Calliope
- The dreams and nightmares : Boyd Holbrook as the Corinthian, Stephen Fry as Gilbert / Fiddler’s Green, Ann Ogbomo as Gault + Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne
- The humans : David Thewlis as John Dee, Joely Richardson as Ethel Dee, Charles Dance as Sir Roderick Burgess / Magus, Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine, Kyo Ra as Rose Walker, Razane Jammal as Lyta Hall, Arthur Darvill as Richard Madoc…
- Guest stars, sometimes voices : Mark Hamill, Derek Jacobi, David Tennant, Sandra Oh, Neil Gayman, James Mc Avoy