“IT: Welcome to Derry” is a prequel series based on “IT” (2017) and “IT: Chapter two” written by Stephen King and directed by Andres Muschietti. The IT series focuses on the town of Derry, which has been terrorized for decades by an entity called “The Deadlights,” which rises from hibernation every 27 years to prey on the town of Derry. This is the true form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. IT: Welcome to Derry is the latest installment of the IT franchise, set 27 years before the events of the first movie. The show stars Clara Stack as “Lilly Brainbridge”, Amanda Christine as “Ronnie Grogan” Mikkal Karim as “Teddie Uris” and Jack Molloy as “Phil Malkin”.
The main premise of this show is to expand on the entity “Pennywise” and the history of Derry during the time of the Civil Rights movement and the indigenous peoples encounter with IT, while mainly focusing on a group of teens who slowly start uncovering the dark supernatural forces haunting Derry. The show takes background plots from the book “IT” and adds new elements and uses them to make this story.
The acting in this show can fall off sometimes, one moment it can give promising performances but then it feels like the actors aren’t trying at all with the line delivery. The pacing however really gives the suspense that reminds me that I’m watching something from Stephen King which is something I really like about it. The show doesn’t show us the main villain Pennywise for the first few episodes, but instead of seeing him, we feel him through the odd instances and unsettling imagery that happen throughout the show. Co-Creator/Director Andy Muschietti tells us this about Pennywise in the show “This is a slow burn, You’ll understand that the buildup and anticipation is intentional as we delay the appearance of the clown.”
The show currently has five episodes (11/23/25), which release every Sunday at 9PM EST, you can watch it on HBO Max and Hulu. I enjoyed watching the show because I am a huge fan of the IT series and would definitely recommend it if you like horror and suspense.
