FROM is an American science fiction horror television series created by John Griffin. The first season premiered on February 20, 2022 on Epix and has been currently renewed for the third season. The show’s main plotline covers a freakish town in Middle America (most probably) that traps those who enter and subjecting the unwilling residents to terrifying nocturnal creatures from the surrounding forest, who resemble humans but butcher and kill the residents. Aside from these monsters, there are also secrets hidden in the town and the forest surrounding it.
Key Characters –
Boyd Stevens, the self-appointed sheriff and de-facto mayor of the Township who is estranged from his son Ellis who lives in Colony House. He is an Army veteran of the Iraq War. His wife Abby was killed during their time in the town and buried there.
Tabitha Matthews, Jim’s wife and Julie and Ethan’s mother, who together are new arrivals to the town. She chooses to live in the Township with her husband and son and is still mourning the recent loss of her youngest child, Thomas.
Jim Matthews, Tabitha’s husband and Julie and Ethan’s father, who lives in the Township with his wife and son. He works with Jade to find a way to escape the town and contact the outside world.
Jade Herrera, a wealthy software developer who arrives at the town on the same day as the Matthews family. Despite his intelligence, he is arrogant and abrasive to the Township residents and struggles with his new circumstances.
Donna Raines, the leader of the residents at Colony House, who live separate from the Township and is a co-leader along with Boyd.
Father Khatri (season 1; guest season 2), the Township’s priest and voice of reason in the community who is killed during an attack.
Victor, a peculiar Colony House resident who has been trapped in the town since he was young and has suppressed the horrors he endured during his time there.
Kenny Liu, Boyd’s deputy and right-hand man who lives with his aging parents in the Township and has a crush on Kristi.
Kristi Miller, the Township’s doctor and a former paramedic who was separated from her fiancee when she became trapped in the town
Fatima Hassan, Ellis’ girlfriend and one of the Colony House residents
Ellis Stevens, Boyd’s son who lives estranged from his father at Colony House
Julie Matthews, Jim and Tabitha’s teenage daughter and Ethan’s older sister who chooses to live at Colony House where she befriends Ellis and Fatima
Ethan Matthews, Jim and Tabitha’s young son and Julie’s younger brother who lives with his parents in the Township and is friends with Victor.
Sara Myers, Nathan’s sister who works at the Township’s diner. She suffers from frequent hallucinations that command her to kill other residents of the Township.
Nathan Myers (season 1), Sara’s brother who lives in the Township and tends to the farm animals and is accidentally killed.
Tian-Chen Liu, Kenny’s mother and Bing-Qian’s wife who runs the diner in the Township
Season 1 begins with a seemingly sleepy town in central United States, shutting down for the evening. In one house, a mother and her young daughter prepare for bed while the alcoholic father passes out drunk in the town bar. As night approaches, an old grandmotherly figure appears at the window of the little girl, who is tricked into opening the window, causing the grandmother to transform and slaughter both the mother and daughter. This allows the audience to understand that all is not well in the town. Meanwhile, as the town mourns the deaths of the mother and daughter, the Matthews family – consisting of parents Jim and Tabitha and children Julie and Ethan – on a cross-country drive in their RV encounter a fallen tree blocking the road with crows circling above them sinisterly, forcing them to take a detour into a small town. The local sheriff, Boyd, instructs them to follow the tree road through town. As the Matthews continue driving, they find themselves repeatedly looping back into town, until they encounter another car driven by Tobey that runs them off the road, causing the RV to flip and crash.
As nightfall approaches, the townspeople arrive to help as they fear what night brings, bringing the passengers of the other car, Tobey, and Jade, back to town, while Boyd and the town doctor, Kristi, stay in the overturned RV with Jim to help Ethan, who is immobile due to a serious leg wound. In a hurry to find shelter, the car driven by deputy Kenny runs over a spike strip left on the road originally for the RV, prompting Kenny, Tabitha, Julie, town priest, Father Khatri, Jade and Boyd’s estranged son, Ellis, to run for the “Colony House” on foot before dark. Back in the RV, as night falls, creepy, smiling strangers slowly approach the vehicle and surround it.
The group barely makes it to the Colony House, where they are let in by the leader, Donna, just as the strangers surround them. As per their protocol, Tabitha, Julie and the unconscious Jade are separated and confined for their safety. In the RV, Kristi, Boyd, and Jim stabilize Ethan, while the strangers surround the vehicle. Simultaneously, Boyd and Donna explain to Jim and Tabitha the situation in the town: the surrounding woods are full of intelligent, shape-shifting creatures that kill for sport. All the town residents are people who arrived at the town and became trapped, with the earliest surviving resident being a strange man named Victor. Boyd had discovered mysterious talismans that, when placed inside an enclosed structure, act as a shield from the monsters. At the clinic, a young girl called Sara is commanded by the voices to kill Tobey and open the door; the monsters enter and brutally kill everyone, including Kenny’s elderly father. Morning arrives and Boyd and Kristi bring Jim and Ethan to the town, while Kenny discovers the carnage at the clinic and grieves. In the Colony House, Ethan looks out of a window and sees a mysterious boy in white.
As I covered the first two episodes, I realize any more details and I will spoil the show for all of you as the show asks several mind-bending questions to the audiences – who is the boy in white? Who are these creatures? Why are only these people stuck and why are they chosen? FROM isn’t Lost – even though some aspects of the show seem similar – group of people trapped in a place where they can’t escape and hunted by eerie creatures or in the case of Lost, a black cloud. The show brings a host of evil creatures which seem vampiric at first but then turn out to be a mix of shapeshifters/demons/nocturnal monsters which not only hunt the people of the town but also show a odd sadistic pleasure in playing with their victims. A few glimpses of the creepiest of these creatures are provided below.
Overall, what works for FROM is the subtle balance between the spine-chilling thrills sprinkled in the mundane, repetitiveness of life and the sense of normalcy that the people of the town try to institute. The actors are engaging especially the town’s sheriff, Boyd Stevens who tries to lead the town’s annoying and self-centered populace towards a collaborative strategy that keeps them all alive. The creatures are quite interesting and new in terms of ideation. The female characters are strong and empowered without coming across as dominating or submissive as most shows make them out to be. The actress playing Donna, is extremely funny despite being a stern and dominant leader.
What I did not like however, based on the 2 seasons I watched are the increasing number of questions that are popping up, just like in Lost, without being answered which concerns me as to whether they would be answered in the future seasons or jumbled into some great all-explaining solution like in Lost. Oh well, whatever the answer, the show definitely has me on the hook and it ensured I will continue to watch it and so should you!
JAY’S VERDICT
FROM is one of the most engaging and exciting shows currently on television and you shouldn’t miss it if you enjoy getting shivers run through your spine.
