Locke and Key - A Netflix Series Review

Do you mean that this key can unlock any door in the house and take me to my heart’s desire? Sounds like my kind of key.

Locke and Key is a 2020 series on Netflix about a family that moves into a house that has gifts behind each door. Discovering that they can travel into each other’s minds with just the use of a key, the family discovers dark secrets.

I was immediately drawn to watching this series when I watched the trailer for it. Stories, where characters travel through doors by key, are cool premises to touch upon. Locke and Key is a series about discovering your abilities and letting go of the past.

Starring an ensemble of talented actors, I was impressed with how everyone connected with their characters and invested in relationships. The Locke family has been through turmoil. Each member is holding back, fearing what their opinions could do. After the discovery of the magical keys, the Locke kids venture off into their own worlds discovering how their insecurities have held them back.

I was most impressed with Jackson Robert Scott as Bode Locke, the youngest member of the family. IT fans are sure to invest in the series after seeing Scott perform as Georgie. Scott is a natural when it comes to acting, reflecting a childlike innocence to the show. I got a crack of some of his funny one-liners.

Connor Jessup and Emilia Jones are excellent in their portrayals as Tyler and Kinsey Locke. Being a teenager is not easy. At times, I don’t think it was appropriate to show them taking advantage of this key, getting back at people who they believe were preventing them from achieving their goals. I would have liked to learn more about the history behind these keys.

Nina Locke is trying to keep everything together for her children, but inwardly she is struggling. Darby Stanchfield is terrific. Her storyline was the most intriguing. Adults cannot see what the kids are experiencing with the magic of these keys. Darby had her own subplot about handling grief, solving a murder and relapsing back into a horrible habit.

Other casting credits include the talents of Petrice James, Sherri Saum, Genevieve Kang, Hallea Jones, Griffin Gluck, Coby Bird and a stupendous performance by Laysla De Oliviera who recently appeared in the Netflix movie, In the Tall Grass.

If you found a magical key that somehow got rid of one of your insecurities, would you do it? Creators hit the mark with concepts of what the inside of a person’s mind resembled. One mind was set up like a shopping mall while another mind was an important room in a house that holds significance.

The set of the house is so beautiful! I loved investigating all the furniture and interior decorating inside. The entire house was completely constructed from scratch by Netflix! The final product is very impressive, playing as a character in itself.

Creators Meredith Averill, Carlton Cuse, and Aron Eli Coleite made a character-driven series. I love series that are dedicated to showing crucial moments in different perspectives to get a sense of what really happened at the moment. Locke and Key had a mysterious tone throughout, but then I feel like the creators took too much of fantasy take in the latter half.

I would recommend Locke and Key to anyone who enjoys a good mystery. I am excited to see what happens in season 2 now that the series has been renewed. Watching this series made me want to pick up a key, and observe the layout of someone’s mind.