Why Elves should be your next box set
Review Overview
Elves
8Atmosphere
8David Farnor | On 28, Dec 2021
What if elves were not nice? That’s the premise at the heart of Elves’ Netflix’s wickedly dark series – and it’s a fun, refreshing departure from Christmas entertainment, packed with spooky atmosphere.
The series follows family of four who head off for a trip on a remote Danish island. The parents, Mads (Peder Thomas Pedersen) and Charlotte (Lila Nobel), hope that their trip will bring them all closer together – but it only puts them all in increasingly nasty danger. It begins when their car accidentally hit a bump in the road – a bump that daughter Josefine (Sonja Steen) worries was an animal. When she starts to investigate the dark smudge left behind on the car’s bumper, she winds up discovering a tiny creature.
Hiding it in the shed, she discovers its name is Kee-Ko, and she starts to tend to it, nursing it back to health. There are warning signs, of course, but she doesn’t care that it makes strange noises, looks rather sinister or has a taste for scraps of meat. And while her brother, Kaspar (Milo Campanale), is wary, Josefine is convinced that Kee-Ko can only be a force for good.
Needless to say, it’s not that simple, and – as the title suggests – there’s more than one mythical creature that will pop up before the finale. And the opening credits set to a creepy cover of Carol of the Bells makes it clear that they’re not necessarily going to be friendly.
Writer Stefan Jaworski (Those Who Kill, The Candidate) sets up the stakes gradually over the six episodes, from the introduction of the intimidating local matriarch Karen (Ann Eleonora Jørgensen) and the decision by the island’s residents to fence off a part of the woods to keep people out and something in. Set pieces teeter from zombie or slasher elements to creature feature flourishes, and director Roni Ezra (The New Nurses) crafts each one with a decent dollop of tension – reinforcing the superb creature design that veers between sweet and unsettling, usually a combination of both. Combined with a 25-minute runtime per episode, the result barrels along like a snowball building momentum, allowing the show to move past the lack of depth in its characterisation and focus instead on the grisly brilliance of its premise. Over three hours, it chills and entertains, while tapping into themes of faith, family and respecting the environment. If you’re looking for a late night Christmas treat, this twisted festive tale is definitely worth unwrapping.