THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY
Season One The Anderson Types
UK/US Disney+, streaming now Showrunners Todd Slavkin,
Darren Swimmer
Cast Tony Hale, Mystic Inscho, Emmy De Oliveira, Seth Carr
It might have a name like a Dan Brown novel but The Mysterious Benedict Society is aimed squarely at kids: the kind who enjoy puzzles, consider themselves to be weirdos and find the rules and regulations of school life stifling. Whether they’ve already read Trenton Lee Stewart’s bestselling five-book series doesn’t matter, although if they’ve read/watched A Series Of Unfortunate Events they might recognise some of this show’s stylings. And that’s not all that’s recognisable: adults watching this may think they’ve stumbled across a Wes Anderson movie. This is not, by the way, a criticism.
The plot is firmly fantastical: an unnamed “Emergency” is hovering over a town, its citizens feeling anxious without really knowing why. To escape this misery, young orphan Reynie (Mystic Inscho) sits an exam to enter an acclaimed school. Passing with only four other children, he discovers that their destination could be the source of the Emergency itself. Guided by the kind-hearted Mr Benedict (Tony Hale) and his team, the children must infiltrate the school on a spy mission.
Sure, some of the young stars aren’t the greatest actors, but in all fairness they’re hampered by characters who don’t talk like real children and/or act like sociopaths. It’s hard to care though, when they’re all so damn hilarious. Building to a satisfying conclusion with a fully rounded cast of characters (even the incidental players shine), The Mysterious Benedict Society is an absolute flippin’ treat. Jayne Nelson
Author Trenton Lee Stewart named Reynie (Reynard) after a friend, but also after the clever fox in French folk tales.