Last night I finished the BBC series
The Living and The Dead and I am so happy I stumbled across this show. It was released in 2016, but just recently made it's way to Amazon Prime where I discovered it. I use "discovered" lightly because Amazon kept throwing it in front of me, but I'm not complaining; I think it may have become my favorite ghost story on film.
IMDb describes it like this:
When a young couple inherit a farm, they are determined to turn it into a success, but strange supernatural forces soon intervene, threatening their marriage and their lives.
What IMDb leaves out is that it takes place in the late nineteenth century, the husband is employed in the new field of psychology and is dealing with grief over the death of his mother and, more significantly, his son. I'm going to leave out an important plot feature too because it would ruin the surprise.
The series has only six episodes and the story moves along quickly, but that didn't stop it from giving me spooky shivers of delight with each episode. I'll even admit to putting my hands over my eyes a few times. This is a ghost story that hovers between reality and imagination. Is Nathan seeing ghosts or is his subconscious dealing with his grief? The dark mood is further enhanced by the pagan practices that are still being practiced by the workers on the farm.
The show is beautifully filmed and the actors well-cast. I'm sure BBC and movie fans will recognize several of them. Unfortunately there are no plans for a second season although the ending leaves an opening for one. Don't let that stop you from watching the show, though, because it wraps up with a great ending.
If you like the opening music as much as I did
The Insects put out a
FREE compilation of their music from the show that you can listen to on SoundCloud.
Howlin' Lord provided vocals on several of the songs. According to The Insects, the opening song
A Lyke Wake Dirge "has pagan pre-Christian origins and tells of the soul's travels on its way from earth to purgatory."
I can't recommend this show enough. If you time it right, you can watch episode five on Halloween (All Hallow's Eve in the show). It's super spooky!
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