Ranking Every HBO Miniseries From Worst To Best
27. The Third Day
British folk horror is having a moment right now, with the likes of Ben Wheatley bringing fear back to the fields and woodlands. Utopia creator Dennis Helly turned his hand to the subgenre with 2020’s The Third Day; the result was an inconsistent, ambitious, often seriously good production with a great turn by Jude Law.
The series takes place on a mysterious island off the east coast of England. In a format beloved of the folk horror genre, this is a place that time has forgotten, where the locals preserve tradition at all costs and interlopers are not treated with much kindness.
Law plays one such interloper, a grieving father who finds himself first welcomed by the islanders, then sucked into a web of weirdness involving rituals, cult action, and LSD. The series is split into three seasonal parts - the middle turns into a theatrical production, filmed in one take and broadcast as a live event.
It’s fair to say The Third Day covers familiar tracks, and fans of The Wicker Man and Midsommar may experience a little deja vu, but when it’s not entirely original, the pervasively creepy vibes and intriguing format makes this a solid watch.