Before

Featuring a very strange child, some creepy drawings and a collection of nightmarish visions, Apple TV+’s psychological thriller Before is loaded with horror tropes taken straight from the early 2000s. Although the concept of a disturbed child scrawling haunting pictures has been done to death, this series’ opening episodes nevertheless establish a compelling narrative, which raises some interesting questions that are bound to keep audiences engaged.

The show centres around child psychiatrist Eli (a flawless Billy Crystal) who’s mourning the death of his wife (Judith Light) when a mute boy (Jacobi Jupe) appears at his front door, his fingertips literally bloodied from scratching the wood. Eli soon learns that the boy’s name is Noah and that he lives with his foster mum (Rosie Perez). Eli takes an interest in the child, becoming his therapist, but events take a stranger turn when the youngster unexpectedly begins speaking in tongues. Meanwhile, Eli experiences visions of his dead wife alongside some gruesome nightmares while Noah sees black tentacles wrapping themselves around people. And then there’s a mysterious farmhouse which seems to be significant to both these characters.

This mixture of interconnected plotlines creates an intoxicating mystery, which hints at there being even more secrets to be uncovered, particularly what really happened to Eli’s wife. Even with its relatively short 30-minute episodes, though, the series is in no rush to divulge any major details. Rather than the plot moving forward in a meaningful way, the opening episodes rehash many of the same story beats: Eli sees his wife, Noah demonstrates seemingly supernatural behaviour, and Eli talks to a handful of supporting characters to try and learn more about what’s going on. The imagery is effectively gory when needed and the entire show has an appropriately disquieting feel to it, but its repetitive nature gets close to wearing thin.

Thankfully, these shortcomings are more than made up for by Crystal’s strong performance. He’s confident in his portrayal of a man tormented by their own grief, with the show being as much a character study as it is a spooky thriller. Jupe is likewise excellent, giving a performance that’s as convincing as it is creepy.

Held together by a commendable performance from Crystal, Before offers viewers an engrossing horror mystery to lose themselves in, even if it takes a little too long to get going.

Andrew Murray

Before is released on Apple TV+ on 25^th October 2024.

Watch the trailer for Before here: