Family on the run in thriller
Plenty of twists, turns and tantalising teases will keep you hooked to Paul Theroux’s Mosquito Coast, writes James Croot.
‘Did you ever wonder? How, when Dad’s so smart, did we got to be so poor?’’ The query between the Fox siblings is the mystery at the heart of this terrific modern update of The Mosquito Coast (which begins streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday).
As with Paul Theroux’s award-winning 1981 novel of the same name and the under-rated and hauntingly memorable 1986 movie starring the incredible trio of Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren and River Phoenix, this is the story of Allie Fox and his family’s descent into the heart of Central American darkness.
But while the central premise is basically intact, the threat of nuclear war is no longer the backdrop and seven episodes allow creators Neil Cross and Rupert Wyatt to widen their scope and the Fox family’s backstory.
The creators’ names will be familiar to Kiwis – Cross has been a longtime Wellington resident and Wyatt helmed the first Weta-infused Planet of the Apes movie.
Here, the pair combine in the opening episode to deliver a pulsating drama that showcases some fabulous performances and hints at just enough shrouded mystery to keep the viewer hooked.
When we first meet Allie (The Leftover’s Justin Theroux, author Paul’s nephew) he’s demonstrating his latest invention. One that can turn fire into ice.
‘‘Are we going to be rich?’’ son Charlie (Gabriel Bateman) asks. Money is tight in the Fox household. Allie earns just $11
an hour doing odd jobs around the nearby Polski Farms – and the work isn’t exactly steady.
With Charlie homeschooled and his older sister Dina (Logan Polish) preparing for college, Allie tries to ‘‘save pennies on the dollar’’ by using a local chicken restaurant’s used cooking oil as biodiesel to fuel his truck, wife Margot’s (Melissa George) van and sometimes the house’s air conditioning.
But even this and eschewing smartphones can’t prevent the inevitable – their Stockton, California, homestead is being foreclosed.
Dismissing Margot’s suggestion that she get her parents to wire enough money to bail them out, Allie decides the only thing to do is to leave town and start again. ‘‘We’ve done it before,’’ he reminds her.
Breadcrumbs like this are dropped throughout the first hour. Allie hints at ‘‘six identities in nine years’’, educates Charlie that ‘‘cops are
like dogs – it’s good practice to assume they are going to bite’’ and, when shadowed by a menacing-looking car, suggests ‘‘they’re not the bank’’.
All of which means a significant departure from the source novel – but one that feels fresh and still in its spirit at the same time.
Justin Theroux plays this Allie Fox very differently to Ford. The latter was focused, possessed, agitated but Theroux’s version is initially laidback, an idealist, happy to mingle with migrant workers and calmly dealing with queries
about some of his more unusual lifestyle choices.
It’s only when tensions rise and the family have to leave the area in a hurry that some of his more manic tendencies start to surface.
In a way, this feels like this year’s Ozark or Breaking Bad ,a compelling family drama set against a morally questionable backdrop, where the landscape is just as much a key character as any of the weird and wonderful people they might encounter.
The big blue sky and wide open spaces seem almost as oppressive as the magnificent
Peter Weir’s fog-shrouded jungle in the 1986 version, while Ad Astra and serial Marvel music man James Murray’s driving score adds much to the atmosphere.
Sure, fans of Mosquito Coast’s other incarnations might bridle at the changes, but there’s enough twists, turns and tantalising teases to make an initial exploratory dip into the first instalment turn into an addictive all-night binge.
The Mosquito Coast begins streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday.