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SummaryA group of schoolboys are stranded on a tropical island after a plane crash in Jack Thorne's adaptation of the William Golding novel of the same name. [Premiered originally in the UK on BBC One on 8 Feb 2026 and in the US on Netflix on 4 May 2026]

Created By:Jack Thorne

Lord of the Flies

Season 1 Premiere: 
May 4, 2026
Metascore
must-watch
83
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
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Metascore
83
91% Positive
21 Reviews
9% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
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  • Negative Reviews
May 4, 2026
100
USA Today
Led by an astoundingly talented cast of young actors and brought to life with painterly brushstrokes of vivid color and horrifying imagery, "Flies" is four episodes of captivating, edge-of-your-seat horror. .... It is an absolute must-watch, as hard as that watching experience may be.
May 4, 2026
90
Time
Bolstered by poetic visuals and stunning performances from the young cast, Thorne’s psychological approach offers profound insight into the unconscious impulses that underlie our current political crises.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
61% Positive
25 Ratings
20% Mixed
8 Ratings
20% Negative
8 Ratings
  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
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  • Negative Reviews
Jun 8, 2026
10
WarrenBeli
Lord of the Files offers a disorienting immersion at first, almost unsettling due to its stylistic choices and lack of conventional visual anchors. But very quickly, the series establishes a raw and gripping atmosphere, drawing us into the gradual descent of the children into a disturbing yet fascinating savagery. A striking and deeply immersive experience.
May 8, 2026
7
shane247
Just 1 episode in and its quite emotional, cant remember reading the book in school so its nice to see this from a fresh perspective. Edit: Binged the rest of it over the weekend. Really well made and shot and acted. No complaints with any of that. Amazing production BUT in the original book these boys were white upper class students in 1950's England who turned on each other. In the TV adaption made for "modern audiences" they clearly had some sort of agenda when it came to who the main protagonist was and his color and who all the other antagonists were. I accept that Piggy was a white Northern Irish kid too but there is probably some underling agenda there too. Maybe I am wrong but the creator of this also did the show "Adolescense" and that was also REALLY well made but clearly ran an agenda too targeting a certain ethnicity. For the most part these shows are high quality film-making but be aware of the subversive undertones or not, interpret it however you like!
May 6, 2026
88
The Mercury News
Sometimes it goes a little overboard with its aesthetics. So be it. Director Marc Munden’s hour-long episodes do become more disturbing (just like the book) and he draws impressive performances from a young cast.
May 4, 2026
80
Slate
Purists may not like how much Thorne has added to this story, and how these additions dilute the sense of archetype that drove the story of Golding’s novel. .... There is something in these backstories that softens the dark message of Lord of the Flies. These boys broke bad, the adaptation seems to say. But it doesn’t mean we all will.
Feb 13, 2026
80
The Times
True, I think it would have benefited from being a tad shorter but it is an extremely classy adaptation which, I imagine, will please Golding purists and newcomers alike.
May 4, 2026
70
Collider
Its cinematic style is effective, and its performances are outstanding. If its four episodes had been a bit shorter, and a few changes to the source material had been reversed, Lord of the Flies could have achieved greatness; instead, it settles for being pretty good.
May 4, 2026
50
TheWrap
It [the music] does more to tell and expand the story of “Lord of the Flies” than “Lord of the Flies,” an otherwise holistically irrelevant addition to the deserted island of Netflix’s forgettable library of peak TV.
See All 23 Critic Reviews
May 7, 2026
6
TVJerry
Those who remember reading Golding’s book in high school will find some adjustments in this new version (purportedly to allow more emotional connections). This group of British boys is stranded on a deserted tropical island, where they gradually deteriorate into anarchy and worse. Jack Thorne, who was the creator of “Adolescence” along with Stephen Graham, has extracted astounding performances from every member of this young cast. Each of the four eps focuses primarily on one member of the group with flashbacks for perspective. However, the decision to add artsy montages and static profile images take the project aesthetically overboard. If all that had been scrapped, this could have been a riveting series (at 3 eps). As it stands, these interruptions, along with a slow pace, undermine its effect. Music should amplify the emotions, but this score is often front and center, distracting and downright weird. Thorne’s efforts to amp this up and make it more than needed result in a show that is cluttered with too many unrelated distractions. (Four one-hour eps)
Apr 19, 2026
4
Bippo98
Leider nicht so meins Finde es sehr gewöhnungsbedürftig Serie ist sehr mit Musik überladen Hab dann in der zweiten Episode abgebrochen, weil's nichts für mich war
Mar 31, 2026
0
kylestryder
I absolutely loved the book of this. I could not get past the 2nd episode of this TV adaptation. It's just boring. It's ridiculously padded for length. Go watch the 1990 movie instead, or better yet, read the book. How such a strong property could be given to such inept film makers is a travesty.
See All 41 User Reviews
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  • Eleven
  • One Shoe Films
  • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
  • Stan
  • Sony Pictures Television
  • Biscuit Films
May 4, 2026
1 Season
Gotham TV Awards
• 2 Nominations
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