Just Beyond is a 2021 fantasy drama series streaming on Disney+Hotstar, based on the R.L Stine graphic novel of the same name. It is an anthology, adapted to the screen by Seth Grahame-Smith under Disney’s production label. It stars a vibrant group of child actors in this chilling horror themed series, such as McKenna Grace, Izabela Vidovic, Lexi Underwood and Cyrus Arnold, to name a few.
Outline
Every story in the show is independent of each other and has a lot of neatly picked up storylines from the novel itself. The first episode kick starts the entirety greatly and has eerie underpinnings to it. There are bad episodes here and there but for the audience it is being targeted at, the show does a great job justifying itself.
What we loved
R. L. Stine is known for his timeless classics in the horror genre, with his works of Goosebumps and Fear Street series. His narration in the books is always known to include a visual aid to enhance the reading experience. Just Beyond aims to do just that, with its lessened dialogues and great scenery and pictorial shooting.
Just Beyond impressively applies dual tone background score, meaning that the audio is spread across unevenly between two ears. This gives us a feeling of dropping us in the surroundings of the actual scene and helping us connect to the happenings on screen. Although the experience wouldn’t matter much, the strangeness is carried forward uniformly.
One thing that is vividly noticed is the sense of needing to be morally and politically correct in every instance, so much so that it reduces the viewing pleasure. Sure, it is important to hold a sense of righteousness and accuracy to political thought, but it worsens the implications of supporting it for those who really do. Just Beyond focuses so much on this same fact that the story itself is left with a void.
Just Beyond has ramifications to be a weirdly unrealistic teen horror show, but the acting has done as much to rid us of the stereotype. The stars of the episodes rose to the job, with their practically tied-down approach to understanding their characters. Often, it got me to question if it was the dialogues or their talent that did it for the show, but we’ll never know.
Why watch Just Beyond?
If you are looking for an entry to the horror genre with lesser jump scares but an unconnected, loosely tied plot, we would suggest you definitely check this out. It comes before Halloween and gives the perfect output of comedy, drama, family and horror vibes without overdoing each of them. If you are looking for a more complexly intertwined plotline, we would steer you towards our reviews on Reminiscence and the Matrix Trilogy. For a light hearted watch, watch Just Beyond streaming now on Disney+ Hotstar.