“It’s a pretty serious, cerebral, mysterious magical ride”: Michael Francis Williams and Jonathan van Tulleken on The Changeling

Based on Victor LaVella’s 2017 novel of the same name, The Changeling is an eight-part supernatural fantasy drama series narrated throughout by LaVella himself. The story brings to screen an adult fairytale set in New York (with a brief stint in the Brazilian jungle) full of love, enduring relationships and the struggles of parenthood, all shrouded in an unusual and unique horror genre lens as the episodes unfold.

The story starts in the 1970s when a young couple meet but she keeps turning down his advances until he finally wins her over. The pair go on to have a son they call Apollo (LaKeith Stanfield) and the focus of the series turns to his life as he grows into a charismatic young man pursuing his own romance with a librarian called Emma (Clark Backo). When they too have a child of their own, and sleep deprivation takes over, Emma’s postpartum depression sinks the couple into a dark place where sinister threads seep into the narrative and tragedy beckons, as reflections of their own tragic childhoods rise to the surface.

The Upcoming had the pleasure of seeking to series directors Jonathan Van Tulleken and Michael Francis Williams about where the story takes us, what the appeal of this genre was for them, the challenges of making it and what the important themes were that this story addresses.

Ezelle Alblas

The Changeling is released on Apple TV+ on 8^th September 2023. Read our review here.

Watch the trailer for The Changeling here: