Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding, while some might consider it to be a timeless classic for many others it was the miserable and fatalistic novel that they were forced to study in high school. I fell into the latter category.
The novel centres around several boys who are marooned on a desert island. Despite the island’s beautiful surroundings and overabundance of clean water and food, anarchy quickly descends on the stranded children as they fight over leadership and group decision making — basically an overly long episode of ‘Survivor.’
Previous attempts at adapting the novel include the 1963 film directed by Peter Brook and a later 1990 edition directed by Harry Hook.
Throughout the entirety of the novel there are no signs of female life to be found anywhere. Possibly Golding thought females would have been a more stabilising and civilising force? Bringing a level of domesticity to the story? Maybe the boys wouldn’t have descended into murderous savagery?
In the Teen Drama Netflix adaptation of this story we won’t have to guess. The show will feature a group of teenagers — male and female and a presumably more culturally diverse group than in the original novel. The teens return from a trip only to discover their town in an abandoned and desolate state.
Already cast is actor Kathryn Newton, known for her role as Madeline’s elder daughter Abigail Carlson in the HBO series ‘Big Little Lies.’ Newton will be playing Allie, the teenager who becomes the de facto leader of the group — her role looks like it will follow the path of Ralph from the novel.
Chris Keyser and Marc Webb will respectively write and direct the series with both acting as executive producers. Marc Webb’s previous credentials including directing ‘500 Days of Summer’ and ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ while Keyser was a writer on the quintessential Teen Drama ‘Party Of Five.’
Production is set to begin in September of this year.
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