It: Welcome to Derry
IT: Welcome to Derry arrives with a clear disadvantage: we already know too much. We know the town, we know the monster, and we more or less know how it all ends. And still, the series manages to make returning to Derry feel justified. This isn’t just a prequel stretching a familiar brand; there’s a clear effort to build its own identity, with a new generation shaped by fear and a town where evil is baked into the foundations.
What works best is how it blends supernatural horror with very real ones. Fear doesn’t come only from what lurks in the sewers, but from racism, abuse of power, family wounds, and a past that refuses to stay buried. At times the series underlines these ideas too heavily, but when it lets them breathe, they hit harder than any jump scare. There are moments when Derry feels like a cruel social experiment rather than just a setting for scares.
From a genre standpoint, it’s uneven but with very strong highs. Some images and set pieces linger in your mind, and the atmosphere is thick and oppressive, true to the idea of a cursed town where something is always wrong. The CGI-heavy monster spectacle sometimes weakens the impact, especially when things get too noisy, but overall the sense of constant threat holds.
The characters are the most fragile element. Not all of them are equally developed, and the exposition can feel forced at times. Still, the emotional core holds, with a few relationships and performances grounding the story. You may not connect with everyone, but you connect with enough to want to keep following them.
As part of the It universe, Welcome to Derry delivers. It expands the mythology without breaking it, offers genuinely striking moments, and restores the feeling that Derry isn’t just a place — it’s a sentence. Not flawless, but a solid and unsettling prequel that leaves you wanting to descend further into the dark.
What works best is how it blends supernatural horror with very real ones. Fear doesn’t come only from what lurks in the sewers, but from racism, abuse of power, family wounds, and a past that refuses to stay buried. At times the series underlines these ideas too heavily, but when it lets them breathe, they hit harder than any jump scare. There are moments when Derry feels like a cruel social experiment rather than just a setting for scares.
From a genre standpoint, it’s uneven but with very strong highs. Some images and set pieces linger in your mind, and the atmosphere is thick and oppressive, true to the idea of a cursed town where something is always wrong. The CGI-heavy monster spectacle sometimes weakens the impact, especially when things get too noisy, but overall the sense of constant threat holds.
The characters are the most fragile element. Not all of them are equally developed, and the exposition can feel forced at times. Still, the emotional core holds, with a few relationships and performances grounding the story. You may not connect with everyone, but you connect with enough to want to keep following them.
As part of the It universe, Welcome to Derry delivers. It expands the mythology without breaking it, offers genuinely striking moments, and restores the feeling that Derry isn’t just a place — it’s a sentence. Not flawless, but a solid and unsettling prequel that leaves you wanting to descend further into the dark.
Mini Review: IT: Welcome to Derry arrives with a clear disadvantage: we already know too much. We know the town, we know the monster, and we more or less know how it all ends. And still, the series manages to make returning to Derry feel justified. This isn’t just a prequel stretching a familiar brand; there’s a clear effort to build its own identity, with a new generation shaped by fear and a town where evil is baked into the foundations. What works...
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