On February 8, 2026, a new television adaptation of the Best-Seller and classic novel, Lord of the Flies, premiered in the United Kingdom. If you were to look up the title on Google, it states that the series is a “faithful” adaptation of the novel. This whole series seems sketchy to me, and I couldn’t quite put a finger on why, maybe because they are changing a 71 year old classic that doesn’t need any edits or changing.
I originally wasn’t going to watch the series out of fear it wouldn’t meet my expectations based on how the older film versions were. However, out of pure curiosity and spite, I caved in and watched the series. After seeing and hearing many mixed reviews on the show, I have now built my own opinion based on these three factors: accuracy, content, and setting.
ACCURACY:
When it comes to whether the new series was accurate or not, I would say no. From giving Piggy a new first name to altering how the boys were supposed to be viewed and symbolized, the new adaptation does not fully comprehend some of the main messages that Golding was trying to send in the novel itself.
The series provides backstories to some characters that give a tug at heart strings, whereas in the novel, there was no mention of the boys having had a life prior to the island.
By giving certain characters like Jack and Simon backstories, the new series fails to maintain a status where it doesn’t matter how bad of a childhood one of them had, or what kind of friendship they had behind closed doors, they still ultimately inherited an evil inside of them that led them to their fatal actions.
The series also includes a major change: the body of the pilot was found very early on and Simon isn’t the one who found the said body. Instead Ralph and Piggy find it right away and dispose of it.
In the novel Piggy is left nameless, in the series he is given the first name Nicky. This new name diminishes a huge factor of dehumanization that is a motif throughout the entire novel. The dehumanization of Piggy and the fact he was left nameless in the novel is something that should have stuck into the series.
If Golding wanted to give Piggy a first name he would have, but he didn’t. He left Piggy nameless in order to emphasize a loss of one’s identity, without a name he is seen as an animal by his group, hence his nickname Piggy.
He in a sense is what makes Lord of the Flies so inhumane, he symbolizes civility and being someone lost in his own identity. He isn’t supposed to be seen as human, he is purely a scapegoat for the other boys’ brutal and barbaric actions.
Not only did they give Piggy a new name they also made his death long and drawn out. Something that definitely did not happen in the novel. Piggy’s death in the series was tear jerking and emotional, but in the novel Piggy’s death was instant and didn’t leave much room for grief. He didn’t die in Ralph’s arms and Ralph certainly didn’t have enough time to bury him before Jack and his tribe got to both of them which is what happened in the show.
CONTENT:
The series also irritated me because the message that was supposed to be told wasn’t told accurately. The director clearly focused on more emotional appeals to his characters instead of the brutal, cut-throat, barbaric themes of the original novel.
If William Golding wanted his readers to feel bad for the boys or make his readers cry at every single death, he would have written his novel in such ways. But did he? No, he most certainly didn’t.
Golding didn’t give any of the boys a sob story for a backstory or friendships that are only relevant behind closed doors, and he didn’t make Simon write letters to Jack. If Golding wanted Jack and Simon to have some sort of complex relationship he would have made that happen, but again he didn’t.
The show also went way too deep into Simon’s empathy and the goodness of his heart, because the audience already knew in the novel he was faithful, and ultimately a symbol of human goodness in himself.
Golding also didn’t want anyone to feel bad for his characters like this director did. The director even states that “the tender nature of Jack and Simon’s friendship” was based on his son, and is something that he finds is one of his “favorite things he’s ever written”.
This makes me want to throw up. Why would you change a 71 year old novel that even the terrible movie adaptations refuse to tamper with? Lord of the Flies is a classic novel that should not have been adapted into such a way.
SETTING AND CINEMATOGRAPHY
Despite hating almost the entirety of this director’s adaptation of the novel, I have to admit that I really enjoyed where the show was set and how the scenes were filmed.
The cinematography was beautiful and the island was very accurate to what I had imagined while reading the novel. The setting was beautiful yet ominous and fit what was being described perfectly.
While I wouldn’t recommend the show to anyone or watch it again, I have to give props to the director for filming. Just remember when it comes to your favorite novels being made into television shows you have to keep your expectations very low.
