IT: Welcome to Derry
Details
Some towns are not just places; they are a feeling, a weight, almost a living organism. Derry is exactly such a town. In Stephen King's universe, the moment the name of this town is pronounced, a vague feeling of tightness awakens inside a person, because Derry is not only a place where bad things happen, but an entity that personally feeds evil, prepares the ground for it. Following the IT adaptations of 2017 and 2019, this prequel series created by Andy and Barbara Muschietti, this time going from screen to screen, promises to confront the much deeper, much darker roots of that familiar horror. Returning to 1960s Derry, the production doesn't retell a nightmare we already know; it digs into the soil that gave birth to that nightmare. The story, carried by powerful actors such as Taylour Paige and Jovan Adepo, focuses on the deep-rooted, generational darkness embedded in the fabric of the town. This atmosphere in which children disappear, no one really asks questions, silence turns into a kind of collective agreement; it goes far beyond an ordinary horror sequence. The real chilling factor here stems not from the clown itself, but from the silence that allows it. This eight-episode first season presents Pennywise's existence not as a surprise but as an inevitable reality. We know him, but we've never seen him this closely, never this early. The atmosphere of the period has been recreated with great care; the tension between the superficial joy of the 1960s and the Decaying darkness below forms the backbone of the series. The most striking thing about the script written by Jason Fuchs is that it builds fear not with momentary leaps, but with a gradually growing depression. The viewer senses that things will get worse at the end of each episode, but the questions of when and how remain unanswered. This uncertainty is the series' greatest weapon. For those familiar with the King universe, this is a return; for new viewers, it's a proper starting point. Derry is waiting for you, but no one can guarantee whether you'll emerge the same person when you go.
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Reviews
Dasha K
October 28, 2025
1/10
**The show is written for pre-teens and it feels like a silly WB series 🤢** I'm really disappointed with this latest TV show from HBO. The acting is absolutely atrocious, and the writing isn't much better. And I never notice stuff like CGI, but some of the "monster" special effects in this look sloppy or something, like they were thrown together on an internet cafe computer. We literally laughed out loud at some of these "scary" scenes. Anyway I thought it was going to be a somewhat ser...
ious horror series, but instead it's just a bunch of writers throwing goofy stuff at the wall to see what sticks. It's definitely intended for young adults/teenagers, which feels more like WB and less like HBO, and personally I was hoping for a show that is somewhat more cerebral. We deserve far better from HBO, usually in shows like Succession we get great acting from phenomenal actors. Definitely not the case in this sloppy show. Seriously who cast these people? PS I guess all the 13 year olds jumped on this website to give this a 10 lol. I recently read an article about this and they called it **Review Bombing** which often happens for with movies from India as well as pre-teen TV shows. **1/10**
MovieGuys
October 28, 2025
3/10
"IT Welcome to Derry" is horrifying for all the wrong reasons. This is a lobotomised, grotesque, over the top, wholly wrong headed, poorly scripted mess. A largely unrecognisable departure from the vastly superior novel and films. The only real upsides I can see is quality acting and solid production values but that is seriously, as far as this series, gets. In summary, no doubt the marketing gremlins will try telling us how "wonderful" this is. That said, fans, like myself, who have...
read Kings novel and enjoyed the excellent "IT" films over the years, wont be easily fooled. One to avoid.
forzamc
December 16, 2025
8/10
Fog, Fear, and Family Curses: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Review HBO's Welcome to Derry Season 1 chills the spine of Stephen King's It universe, unearthing 1962 Derry's festering secrets in a taut eight-episode prequel. Showrunners Andy Muschietti and Tommy Brennan sidestep the Losers' glow, spotlighting the town's doomed denizens: pie-baking matriarchs, boozy cops, and wide-eyed kids teetering on Pennywise's abyss. It's folk horror distilled—less spectacle, more soul-rot—building from insidious ...
whispers to a finale blaze. Grade: A-. Jovan Adepo's Leroy Hanlon, a Black vet battling racism and red balloons, anchors the ensemble with raw fury. Cynthia Erivo's Martha Marsh ferries maternal terror through kitchen rituals, while young stand-ins for future Losers (Eddie Kaspbrak vibes included) deliver pint-sized pathos. Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise lurks as a viral specter, not a showboat—melting into snowmen, hissing in mirrors. Episodes brew like a nor'easter: early setups layer mill drudgery with vanishings, mid-season blackouts spawn shadow-stalking regrets. Pacing dips in a lore-heavy flashback, but Chung-hoon Chung's frostbitten cinematography—desaturated whites pierced by crimson warnings—rights it. Themes probe generational sins: bigotry's bite, neglect's feast, complicity's curse, laced with 1960s civil rights grit. Horror hits intimate: sewer births evoke Alien's dread, carnivals clot with bloody candy. Sound warps jazz to wails, burrowing deep. Minor subplots meander, but "Winter Fire" erupts with time-twisted revelations, seeding Losers' doom. A reclamation of King's sprawl—sharp, tragic, shiver-worthy. Derry calls; answer if you dare.
tender_buttkiss
December 25, 2025
5/10
IT's hard to make a prequel series after the success of the newest IT films with all the knowledge of how things turn out. My hope going into this series was it would go into how Pennywise came to be. And while it did to some degree, it really didn't explain much. Production value was great, but the story was a hot mess that hinged on 'the power of friends' being what over comes this demonic entity. Oh well. Maybe the second season will be better?
amnyg
January 08, 2026
/10
Absolutely amazing. The casting and the acting was done so well. The graveyard scene was so bad but other than that all the episodes were amazing, dare i say this is the best one yet in the IT franchise they've made. The kids were definitely i wasn't expecting, they did their characters so well! The way they portray in Derry was so chilling and the fact that Pennywise amplify their hatred in fear during those times were so downright terrifying, the rcasim, social injustice, etc. Props to ...
the writers, producers and Andy for making this amazing series. I'm gonna miss the cast so much and i'm looking forward for Season 2!
claristo
June 01, 2026
6/10
I maybe overhyped this to myself but I was generally underwhelmed. It wasn't bad but it didn't hold up to the movies for me
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Frequently Asked Questions
IT: Welcome to Derry has a total of 1 seasons.
IT: Welcome to Derry first aired in 2025.
IT: Welcome to Derry belongs to the following genres: Drama, Mystery.
IT: Welcome to Derry has a rating of 8.2/10 from 1,508 votes on TMDB.
Yes, IT: Welcome to Derry is currently still airing.
In the United States, IT: Welcome to Derry is available to watch on: HBO Max Amazon Channel, YouTube TV, HBO Max, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store.