The Roku Channel’s The Spiderwick Chronicles Falls Fantastically Flat

On August 26, 2023, it was announced that Disney+ had let go of their adaptation of best-selling children’s series The Spiderwick Chronicles. The eight-episode show had been totally completed but, due to “cutting programming costs,” would no longer appear on Disney’s streaming service. In an era where completed projects are sometimes deleted entirely, doomed to never be seen again, this decision was disheartening, if not entirely surprising. 

But then, two months later, a Hollywood miracle happened: the series was rescued! Thanks to The Roku Channel, The Spiderwick Chronicles would indeed see the light of day, albeit on a much smaller streaming platform. However, after watching all eight mind-numbing episodes of the show, perhaps Disney was onto something after all.

Based on the set of novels by authors Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, the series tells the story of the Grace siblings who, following the divorce of their parents, move from the city to an old, rural family estate. Once at the creaky house, twins Jared (Lyon Daniels) and Simon (Noah Cottrell) begin to discover strange artifacts that spell trouble both within the house and in the outside world. But those artifacts aren’t entirely out of the ordinary, as the house used to belong to their relative Arthur Spiderwick (Albert Jones), who spent his entire life dedicated to the belief that faeries and other supernatural creatures are entirely real. After learning more about a mysterious creature living in their walls, the kids begin to realize that Arthur and their “crazy” great-aunt Lucinda (Charlayne Woodard) are maybe not so crazy after all. As they begin to make more discoveries, the kids learn that the evil ogre Mulgarath (Christian Slater) is on the loose and is attempting to get his hands on Arthur’s Field Guide, which contains the secrets to the magical world.

There is more to the show than this synopsis, but, unfortunately, this sums up most of the original book material that is retained here. Those looking for a straightforward adaptation—such as the televised versions of A Series of Unfortunate Events or Percy Jackson—will need to look elsewhere. The series marks an extreme departure from the original story; entire books are omitted and replaced with new storylines, characters, and strange decisions. Though interviews with the creators indicate that the series adapts book one and five, the original story is so far gone that even what remains is barely recognizable. Authors Black and DiTerlizzi are involved as executive producers, but their lack of writing credit is telling. Without their sense of story, the world created here feels their loss.

The poor adaptation aside, it’s important to look at the merits of the series on its own terms. Unfortunately, they are few and far between. Across its plodding eight episodes, the events of the series never delve far enough into interactions between the real world and the magical one. Though there are occasional scenes of interesting lore, the lack of worldbuilding is apparent, and much of the series consists of bickering between family members, therapists, and friends. This quickly grows tired. Additionally, viewers will be quickly turned off by unfortunately poor acting that is bland at best and completely laughable at worst. The dialogue does the actors no favors, with marvelously memeable lines like “We’re on ice so thin, we’re practically a margarita” and “Don’t feel your feelings. Eat them.” The acting in the show is par for the course for many young adult shows, but the root problem here is the writing. From the beginning scenes of the first episode, it’s clear that, whether it be forced expositional dialogue or cringe-worthy one-liners, eager watchers should lower their narrative expectations. 

As the shapeshifting ogre Mulgarath, Christian Slater is completely one-note. For a character as evil as he is supposed to be, there should be more obvious hints of angry and murderous propensities bubbling right under the surface. Instead, Slater’s performance usually reads as vaguely irritated, overly relying on his small degree of charm to manipulate those around him—with less than believable results.