REVIEW: ‘Creature’ Delivers A New Take On A Classic Tale

Ziya (Taner Ölmez) grew up with a thirst for knowledge. With his physician father as an inspiration, Ziya desired to expand humanity’s knowledge of the body and how to save it from injury and disease. But after his mother’s untimely death due to a cholera outbreak, Ziya becomes fixated on finding a way to prevent death, or even reverse it. His unorthodox desires put him in the path of a shunned professor named Ihsan, who may just have the knowledge he seeks in the Turkish limited-series Creature (Yaratilan), directed and written by Çagan Irmak, and inspired by Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein.

While key elements of Shelley’s iconic science fiction horror tale are easily spotted in Creature, the series could never be accused of being unimaginative in its approach. Beyond the restoration of life to a dead human, there are few story beats that will be guessable by those who are familiar with the many other adaptations that have graced screens large and small.

The first couple of episodes follow Ziya as he sets off to Istanbul to study medicine. Upon arriving at the school, he finds it a place not for asking questions and learning, but for regurgitating what his teachers tell him, even if some of that dictation is suspect at best. Instantly frustrated with how little interest in discovery anyone has, Ziya finds himself on the outs at school when he runs into Ihsan (Erkan Kolçak Köstendil). A disgraced professor and old friend of Ziya’s father, Ihsan does what he can to help the young man find his footing in Istanbul.

The two’s interactions lead Ziya to discover that Ihsan is conducting experiments in search of a way to reanimate the dead. Thrilled with this discovery, Ziya manages to get Ihsan to agree to team up in the research. That is until something goes horribly wrong. While the experiments do technically yield success, the life that is restored by the doctor’s research is not what Ziya had planned. Yielding a near-mindless subject, Ziya ultimately abandons his creation and returns home.

While the opening chapters of this journey focus exclusively on Ziya, Creature becomes a split tale halfway through as Ziya and the recently restored man go their separate ways. Ziya tries to return to his life before his experiments, reuniting with his father, Muzaffer (Engin Benli), and his sweetheart, Asiye (Sifanur Gül). His side of the tale for the middle of the series sees him reconnecting with his family and settling in as if his actions had never occurred.

The other side of Creature follows the restored as he struggles his way through society. Feared by most as either a leper or the undead, he is taken in by a traveling carnival show that sees the usefulness he can bring through his immense strength. While at the carnival, he has his first experiences with love, family, and kindness.

Disasters, pain, and cruelty are not strangers to the series’ eight episodes, but the narrative does a great job of balancing the bad with the good. It would’ve been easy for the narrative to devolve into a series of heartbreaking moments with not a glimmer of hope to be seen. Rather than simply kicking its protagonists endlessly, however, the show wisely balances it out, allowing the characters to feel joy and happiness, giving them reasons to push on before the next brutal blow falls.

With a vast range of both positive and negative experiences littering the story, much of the cast is called upon to deliver a wide range of emotions, sometimes even flicking from one to the next within a single scene. All the actors do a commendable job with the emotional gymnastics the plot requires, and the stand-out is Ölmez. As Ziya plunges into an obsession with the potential to conquer death, Ölmez sells it fantastically. But as the ramifications of his actions threaten to engulf him, he bounces from begging for help to threatening others. He does so with a rarely matched flexibility.

While there is plenty to appreciate in Creature’s tale, it isn’t without its setbacks. There are times when the plot plays out a bit too slowly, causing a lag in the middle of the story. This largely comes from Ziya’s side of the tale. He has a bit of downtime between his initial escape and when they catch up to him. But as one of the two stars, the series feels it can’t keep away from him for too long, even if he often doesn’t feel like he has much to do.

The other notable flaw in this series comes with some of the music choices. A couple of key scenes are paired with musical selections that don’t work for the moment. The tone of the music in these moments feels off with the events being displayed, confusing the mood of the moment. How the viewer is supposed to feel about the scene becomes lost in the conflicting energies presented by the visuals and the soundtrack.

Creature delivers a lot. Great emotion and a unique approach to a classic tale come together to craft a story that is both familiar and new at the same time.

Creature is streaming now on Netflix.