‘The Gloaming’ Is A Haunting Mix Of Crime And The Supernatural & You’ll Bloody Love It

Mono-genre shows are so basic, right? In this house, we stan (pun intended) shows with multiple genres and layers like brand new Stan Original Series, The Gloaming.

The eight-part series is a glorious mix of crime and supernatural, featuring a gripping murder-mystery that crime fans will be hooked on, along with a spooky, otherworldly element that will give you chills.

After a series of horrific crimes play out in a small town, Detective Molly McGee (Emma Booth) teams up with Detective Alex O’Connell (Ewen Leslie) to make sense of the tragic string of events.

But as they dig deeper and deeper into the case, more terrifying secrets are unveiled, including some of their own.

Earlier this year, I travelled from Sydney to Tassie with a select few journos and Stan team members to check out the set, meet the cast and understand more about this highly anticipated series.

At the forefront of the story is Molly who Booth (Underbelly: The Golden Mile) described as “this multi-faceted, crazy, incredible woman.”

“She’s very troubled, she’s been through a lot in her past and has experienced a lot of abandonment.”

I’ve always found that flawed heroes are the most fascinating ones to see on-screen and we’ve definitely found that in Molly.

Her intelligence, instincts and dedication to the job are mirrored by her flaws, mostly stemming from her troubled past such as her father’s death and her estrangement from her daughter.

She’s joined by her equally damaged colleague (and wouldn’t ya know it, ex-lover) Alex, played by Ewen Leslie (No Activity).

Alex grew up in Hobart and, after witnessing a violent crime, moved away to Melbourne where he’s been living for 20 years until being forced to return.

“Now he’s dealing with a murder that has possible ties to the crime he was involved in 20 years ago,” Leslie teased.

“And through the course of investigating this new case, beyond having to reconnect with her, he’s forced to confront the past and confront his demons.”

The Stan Original Series was created by beloved showrunner Vicki Madden (The Kettering Incident) and directed by a host of celebrated Australian talent including Michael Rymer (HannibalBattlestar GalacticaAmerican Horror Story), Greg McLean (Wolf CreekJungle) and Sian Davies (Reef BreakWentworth).

The more I delved into the series, the more I became fascinated with its mix of crime and supernatural, two of the most intriguing genres to watch, IMO.

“There’s the main crime story that’s driving it along but there’s constantly a supernatural story that’s sitting underneath it and running parallel all the time,” Leslie explained.

But, of course, when you mix crime with the supernatural, there needs to be an element of believability and Booth reckons they’ve nailed it.

“We wanted to produce quality and believability, that had to be there without question,” she said. “How do we bring ghosts and witches into this and make people believe it? And Vicki has managed to do it. We had a big job at just keeping it grounded and real. And the look of it, it’s just so incredibly beautiful and dark and eerie.”

Leslie added: “And I suppose at some point [in the show] the two genres get closer and closer until you realise they’re more integrated than you might have originally thought. I hope I’m not in trouble for saying that…”

Speaking of spoilers, actors are always hesitant to give too much away for obvious reasons, but Leslie revealed that the series starts off with a bang.

“Within the first five pages [of the script] I was like, ‘Wow, you’re already pulling the rug out from under my feet of how I expected this to be,’” he said.

Booth also teased a huge plot twist that unravels towards the end.

Upon reading the scripts containing said twist, Booth said her reaction went something like this: “I was like, ‘Are you kidding me!? How are we going to pull this off?’”

She adds, “And the way it finishes is crazy.”

The beauty of the series is that it showcases the stunning Tasmanian landscape, which Booth described as the “lead character.”

“We’re shooting [Tasmania] to make it come alive so people around the world will see it and go, ‘We need to go to Tasmania!’” She said.

“We’re hoping to bring an incredible show to the world and it’s international standard for us. We’re working our asses off to make sure it’s one of Australia’s best shows.”

The Gloaming just arrived on Stan which is a bloody great way to enter 2020, right?

Check out the ~spooky~ trailer below:

Every ep of the Stan Original Series The Gloaming is now streaming, only on Stan – Australia’s unrivalled home of original productions.

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV