in the series The Clearing, from Disney +, everything happens for two reasons. On the one hand, fear, obligation and guilt. On the other, the need to find the truth. Between both things, this adaptation of the homonymous novel by JP Pomare explores faith and beliefs from the disturbing perspective of the sects. Which gives the plot the same claustrophobic air as its literary version.
In addition, Matt Cameron’s direction gives The Clearing the feeling of a tragedy about to happen and a more than likely inevitable death. In the same way as the fiction on which it is based, the series explores two different narrative threads that end up mixing in the same scenario. The plot follows the cult of the Kindreda group of believers obsessed with physical and mental perfection who kidnap children and educate them under their harsh and twisted precepts.
The Clearing
The Disney+ series The Clearing, based on the book by JP Pomare, delves into the claustrophobic atmosphere of cults. Especially, in the sick, painful and dangerous bonds that are established between its members. Through two parallel stories, the plot narrates what happens within a sect with religious tendencies and in the destroyed lives of those who managed to flee from it. A double scenario that ends up intersecting in a single plot. On the one hand, a kidnapped girl who rebels against the impositions. On the other, a woman consumed by fear. An increasingly tense story with a solid script that intelligently maintains the tension.
The true motives of the sect of The Clearing
An atrocity that includes removing them from their families, from their daily lives and from any trace of identity and turning them into blameless and homogeneous personalities. Although in the novel, the idea is more related to eugenics than to the annihilation of individuality, the television adaptation of The Clearing focuses the concept on the side of indoctrination.
The script, by Matt Cameron, Elise McCredie and Osamah Sami, emphasizes that the pressure for perfection is not a random demand. Rather it relates to a future plan that tries to build an army of perfect men and women. All capable of rising to power, exerting control, and taking the Kindred creed to new places and scales of influence.
Of course, the plot of The Clearing It could be linked to a dystopia if it weren’t for the fact that the narration is in charge of showing the fragility of a plan built on kidnapping and illegal retention. A point that, following the arrival of Sara (Paityn Batchelor) to the congregation, is demonstrated from several different perspectives.
The possible consequences of rebellion
Sara is eight years old and does not know what is happening around her now that she has been kidnapped and integrated into a self-styled family. She only knows that every word and action of the Kindred contradicts what she learned in her home. Nonetheless, Mommy (Miranda Otto), leader of the cult, is convinced that their heinous methods of punishment and control are more than justified. The first chapters of The Clearing They show how the natural rebelliousness of the girl contrasts with the efforts of the visible head of the congregation to dissent.
The Clearing delves into the idea that beneath every extremist or fanatical belief lies an evil charismatic figure. Mami is in her complete conviction that the children around her are the seedbed of a greater plan that will be inherited by grateful generations. In fact, one of the central points of the production is the way in which it explores fear and subjection to control through moral violence. Miranda Otto’s character is cruel and she believes that it is necessary to be.
So, Sara’s rejection and rebellious behavior—refusing to obey any way to subdue her character—is dangerous. Both for what she shows the rest of the young followers —who may not attend to the long list of demands without consequences— and for the survival of the cult. Well, the disappearance of the little girl from her home brought an unexpected consequence. For the first time, police have begun to suspect that the child abductions are somehow connected.
the other story of The Clearing
On the other side of the narrative is freya (Teresa Palmer), a terrified and paranoid-worn woman who lives in an isolated cabin. The plot discovers that she suffers the consequences of a disturbing past and a personal tragedy that makes her a silent victim. Although at first, not much else is known.
However, with amazing skill, The Clearing is letting us see that both the history of Sarah and the Kindred like the freya They are connected, though not for the obvious reasons. The plot delves into her character to show the inner darkness she must deal with and how the scars of a traumatic childhood make her an outcast.
The Clearing has the ability to play with apparently disordered elements. What allows you to build a story that increases in tension chapter by chapter. In its visual section, the production uses close shots of small rooms. In this way, he manages to show what the characters must face in their inner world. Something that gives the argument a rarefied air that becomes increasingly dark and solid.
The stories connect
Gradually, The Clearing shows that the character’s experiences not only complete the context against which he fights Sarah. In addition, they are the way to understand the seriousness of the actions of the Kindred. In its third chapter, the production shows that the sect is built to exercise control, also over those who have been able to escape. It is then that the link that connects the missing girl, freya and Mommy it becomes more obvious and tortuous.
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The Clearing it takes religious panic to a whole new level. At the same time, he builds the bases of a narrative that will tell the destruction of the possible origin of an authoritarian system. Can he pull it off with the same skill as his first three chapters? It only remains to wait.