Given his checkered career, there were no guarantees that M. Night Shyamalan‘s involvement in the AppleTV+ series “Servant” would bode well for the new streaming platform. However, “Servant” ended up being one of the better-received shows on AppleTV+ last year by critics and audiences alike. Of course, Shyamalan doesn’t deserve all the credit there. The series is originally the brainchild of BAFTA-nominated writer Tony Basgallop, and the show’s unnerving set-up catered itself to any viewer who loves the creepy and macabre.
“Servant” follows a married couple, Sean and Dorothy Turner, who resort to a desperate experiment after the tragic death of their newborn son, Jericho. To coax Dorothy out of crippling depression, the family introduces a fake “reborn doll” into the household to take Jericho’s place. Things get even weirder once the Turners hire a nanny, Leanne, to take care of the doll as if it were a real child. Leanne takes her tasks a little too seriously, and as Sean grows increasingly suspicious of Leanne’s presence, it’s clear that something sinister has crept into the Turner home.
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The first season of “Servant” evidently ended with a shocking twist straight out of the Shyamalan playbook. AppleTV+ was so confident in its success that it renewed the series for a second season before the first one premiered on the service last November. The next installment picks up where things left off, and all the major players are returning, including Lauren Ambrose as Dorothy, Toby Kebbell as Sean, Nell Tiger Free as Leanne, and Rupert Grint as Dorothy’s brother Julian.
Shyamalan was only occasionally behind the camera for the first season of “Servant,” and he’s seen to it that other international horror talents get involved with the direction in season two. Lisa Brühlmann, director of 2018’s “Blue My Mind,” returns after she directed an episode last season. French filmmaker Julia Ducournau, who made 2016’s cult hit “Raw,” is on board to direct too, as is Isabella Eklöf, director of 2018’s “Holiday.”
With its focus on grief, domestic spaces, and the malicious forces that may manifest within them, “Servant” is in line with popular themes in the horror genre right now. Will the next season of “Servant” push it from a cult following to mainstream acclaim? AppleTV+ subscribers find out on January 15, 2021, when season two premieres.