{"id":637393,"date":"2026-04-29T23:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T23:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/637393\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T23:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T23:52:09","slug":"apple-tv-horror-comedy-bewitches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/637393\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple TV Horror Comedy Bewitches"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe blend of horror and comedy \u2014 two genres driven by tension that culminates in a cathartic payoff \u2014\u00a0has thrived in recent years at the box office, championed by auteurs like Jordan Peele and Zach Cregger. With the droll, authentically creepy Apple TV series \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay,\u201d creator Katie Dippold has successfully transplanted the hybrid to the small screen. One would expect nothing less from the woman who turned Australian cult hit \u201cThe Babadook\u201d into an immortal meme<\/a>, on top of other accomplishments like penning the scripts for multiple Paul Feig movies. It\u2019s a feat worth celebrating nonetheless.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe namesake of \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d is a fictional island off the coast of New England that Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) is determined to make \u201cthe next Martha\u2019s Vineyard.\u201d All he has to do is dispel the superstition that the island is somehow cursed: a serial killer took the lives of several teen girls in the 1990s; it\u2019s rumored anyone born there will die if they set foot on the mainland; a host of local legends around everything from church bells to mushrooms fuel rampant superstition. Tom, a widower solo parenting his teenage son Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick), is determined to tune out the noise and push Widow\u2019s Bay into the future, where you can get cell reception and order a cappuccino at the local coffee shop.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt first, \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d seems to set up an \u201cX-Files\u201d-like dynamic between Tom and Wyck (Stephen Root), a fisherman who represents the true-believing native son to Tom\u2019s skeptical interloper. (Tom grew up off-island, only moving on account of his late wife.) But the show wisely dispenses with ambiguity within a couple episodes: What\u2019s happening to Widow\u2019s Bay \u2014\u00a0a cluster of disturbing events heralded by a mysterious fog \u2014\u00a0is very real, and it\u2019s up to Tom to stop it before all the tourists he prayed for get spooked or worse.<\/p>\n

\n\tThough the plot has an overarching story, there\u2019s an almost anthological feel to \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay,\u201d which riffs on a different sub-branch of horror with each subsequent half-hour. There\u2019s a slasher riff, \u00e1 la \u201cHalloween\u201d; a haunted hotel, \u00e1 la \u201cThe Shining\u201d; even a flashback to the settlement\u2019s Puritan-era origins, \u00e1 la \u201cThe Witch.\u201d That last one is helmed by \u201cX\u201d director Ti West, who joins \u201cSeverance\u201d director Sam Donovan and \u201cFriendship\u201d auteur Andrew DeYoung in a stacked behind-the-camera lineup led by executive producer Hiro Murai, late of \u201cAtlanta\u201d and \u201cBarry.\u201d It takes a group of such experience to handle the series\u2019 delicate balancing act, which sustains both heart-pounding suspense and wry humor for impressively long stretches of time.<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite so clearly broadcasting its influences, \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d is not a parody, nor does it take on the joke-a-minute pace or goofy tone of an outright spoof like \u201cScary Movie.\u201d The comedy is instead more deadpan, with Rhys playing the flustered straight man against a (sometimes literal) murderer\u2019s row of ensemble members and guest stars. After giving a classic \u201cwho is that\u201d turn in the rudely canceled<\/a> \u201cMy Lady Jane,\u201d Kate O\u2019Flynn excels as Tom\u2019s eager and eccentric assistant Patricia, who leads my two favorite episodes of the season. \u201cRighteous Gemstones\u201d star Tim Baltz, chaotic stand-up Chris Fleming and \u201cGLOW\u201d alum Betty Gilpin are among the visitors who flit in and out of Widow\u2019s Bay like so many \u201cSimpsons\u201d side characters. If it weren\u2019t for the sea hags and scary clowns, \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d wouldn\u2019t be too far off from the quirky small-town sensibility of a \u201cSchitt\u2019s Creek.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cosmology of \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d is deliberately vague, barely making an attempt to unite all the disparate evils that afflict this tiny island. The point is, instead, to revel in the contrast between the terrors and the impressively unfazed people who navigate them. One resident wakes up to a hooded stranger preparing to stab her and silently points them to her sleeping husband rather than scream. Another shuts a door on an old-timer in the middle of his menacing monologue about an apocalyptic storm. Such subtle tweaks in rhythm and resolution are more subtle, and more rewarding, than a straightforward joke-and-punchline setup. (Though there\u2019s also plain old slapstick; Rhys does expert work with an oversized picture frame in a later episode.) They\u2019re also rooted in the same command over timing that makes extended home invasion or chase sequences riveting for minutes at a time.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn lieu of a detailed mythology or elaborately constructed mystery box, the scares on \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d are grounded in the characters\u2019 different anxieties: Tom\u2019s desire to control the risks facing his increasingly independent son; Patricia\u2019s loneliness and need to fit in; Wick\u2019s regret over past sins and paths not taken; Evan wanting to impress a girl. (The teens in \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d are oblivious enough to do their genre forebears proud.) When I contemplate a clearly forecast Season 2, it\u2019s not the quest to end the curse that interests me \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s the prospect of spotlights on smaller players like salty old-timer Rosemary (Dale Dickey) or Tom\u2019s sweet deputy Dale (Jeff Hiller). Widow\u2019s Bay may not make the best tourist destination, but I\u2019d happily make a return trip.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first two episodes of \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d are now streaming on Apple TV, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Wednesdays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The blend of horror and comedy \u2014 two genres driven by tension that culminates in a cathartic payoff…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,348,238132],"class_list":["post-637393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-widows-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}