The Girl in the Woods (2021) User Reviews

Pretty good.

[gjpfnnpnwy · 7/10 · 23 October 2021]

This is a supernatural teen show but with an atypical and rather interesting plot. The main character, Carrie, grew up in an isolated cult deep in the woods that dedicates itself to keeping nightmarish monsters locked away behind a mystical door, all to nobody in the outside world's knowledge. She eventually leaves the cult for reasons unknown and the story goes from there.

The writing is far from stellar. It's obviously not going for any awards, but the show is entertaining enough to keep you watching. Not everyone will like it though, and that's fine. The episodes are short so it's not a time-sink. Watch the first episode and decide from there.

If you're wondering why a few people are calling the show "woke," it's because the main girl is gay, and the female co-star is black, with the male-costar being non-binary. That's enough to have some people hate the show. Skip it if that bothers you.

Not Optimistic about this Show's Future

[drewmail-44554 · 5/10 · 29 May 2022]

I came across this show on Peacock and the premise sounded intriguing. A secret cult, deep in the Oregon forests, protects the outside world from demons that periodically escape from a nearby portal to the demon world. A teenage girl, trained by the cult to be a "guardian" against these creatures and the daughter of the cult's leader, decides to escape from the cult and ends up befriending a couple local kids. Together, they hunt and do away with monsters that threaten their little community of West Pine, OR. The obvious parallel is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, set in central Oregon instead of southern California. After watching three episodes, I have some concerns. The first is the 25 min. Episodes where there's hardly time to build up much plot and I've never been a big fan of anthology TV series. The second is the two local sidekicks who don't seem to have any ambition and like to force jokes onto the lead character, Carrie, who plays her role straight and serious. The first demon, some sort of monster who lures his victims into the woods to live of their blook, we very weak. They'll definitely need better villains/monsters. Then, there's the element of the Cult trying to chase, and return Carrie to their clutches, because they don't want the secret of the monster's portal to be discovered. The Cult seems more good, than bad, however, and the local townspeople seem clueless. I also don't like the lesbian/gay elements that seem to be developing between Carrie and one of the other Guardian trainees and the queerish local sidekick guy. I'll invest another couple hours to watch the last five episodes of season one, but I don't think I can recommend season two just yet.

Better then I was expecting

[gurkisjurgis · 7/10 · 7 May 2022]

I was expecting it to be very basic and boring, but it was actually engaging. It wasn't really a horror show as much as a teen drama with horror elements. As a teen drama it was above average, the characters were realistic and there problems too. If you are looking for something scary this show is not for you, but if you want an teen drama that doesn't make you brain dead while watching it, it's pretty good.

Original Comes from YouTube

[musicalfreakgurl · 25 October 2021]

Most of the reviewers don't know that this series comes from Crypt TV channel on YouTube, which has an array of horror anthologies. I'm glad they made it to the big screen as Crypt TV has some of the most original horror short films out there. Instead of being over critical they should check out the YT channel before saying that this series is over "woke" because it's anything but.

I do wish they had chosen from different short films but this one isn't horrible. I say give it five episodes before you there it under the bus.

uneven with potential

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 25 January 2023]

Carrie (Stefanie Scott) and her people have been tasked with guarding a mysterious door in the Oregon woods. One day, she decides to run away from the door. She is befriended by outcast teens Tasha (Sofia Bryant) and Nolan (Misha Osherovich). She is being tracked by Arthur Deane (Will Yun Lee).

Stefanie Scott is a bit wooden as an actress, but that's fine for the character who is hiding stuff. The start is a bit clunky. There is a better way to play this from a cult idea. This really needs to start with Tasha and Nolan. Nolan is a fascinating side character with potential. There is material here for a good show, but it's not done in the most imaginative way. All in all, the show is uneven, but just compelling enough to keep watching. I like the group dynamics and the nightmare monsters. After one season, it's probably done.

If Buffy was written by a 5th grader

[ikata-49417 · 2/10 · 21 October 2021]

The premise of the show has potential, but the characters are cliché to the point of absurdity. They hardly need dialogue because it's blatantly obvious what each character is going to say in every scene.

Mixed feelings

[okpilak · 6/10 · 26 April 2023]

The episodes are a bit uneven, and involve mainly around teens. There is a colony behind the door, and Carrie escapes from it. The colony is really based on beatings and pain, and very brutal punishment, leaving scars. It is necessary, to create a guardian from one of them, where pain = sacrifice and sacrifice = love. They are the guardians of the door from Gehenna to the outer world. Gehenna is populated by terrible beasts, which, if let loose on the world, could destroy much. And Carrie becomes one of the stronger persons meant to protect that doorway. A tear develops in the boundary between Gehenna and the outer world, and if it is not repaired, the results would be terrible. Already, some of the beasts have escaped, and they are often invisible, but deadly. The outer world is set in a small town, where the closing of a nickel mine threatens the economic survival of the town, yet some want the mine closed due to the toxic byproducts of the mining. This sets up some of the tension between the town characters. The target audience is most likely teens who would not be real critical.

Such a cool idea: terrible execution

[mattdthomas-15858 · 4/10 · 24 October 2021]

Terrible acting and dialogue hinder what could have been a creepy and cool monster show. I don't see this having a season 2 but I could be wrong. Watch it with very low expectations and you may enjoy it.

A lot of potential

[krw-74120 · 10/10 · 23 October 2021]

I really enjoyed the first season and am excited to see what this goes. The characters were really engaging and flawed, but you were always rooting for them.

The premise is good. The product is lacking.

[frankblack-79961 · 4/10 · 2 July 2022]

Well, as much as I liked the premise, the execution was mired by woke nonsense and a general lack of likable characters. With a better writing team or whoever is pushing the woke checklist in so many of these shows and movies now, could be a very watchable show. Society is not a bunch of trans, gay, bi, and otherwise mentally ill people. A very small single digit percentage of the population's lifestyle choices shouldn't be shoved in peoples faces on such a regular basis. Ruins too many otherwise entertaining films and tv shows.

An Easy Watch and Surprisingly Really Enjoyable

[barbjunk-56567 · 8/10 · 22 October 2021]

Not sure what's up with some of the way overly harsh reviews. This is a fun show. If you're looking for some lighthearted entertainment but like some genre and a dash of scares with it, I recommend this show. I particularly loved the main trio. It's not super scary, but that wasn't a negative to me. It was a breeze to watch, which I appreciated. Takes a couple of episodes to find it's groove but once it finds it you'll realize you're really sucked in and care deeply for the characters. There's a couple moments I was surprised really struck me right in the feels. The finale was also a standout. Don't listen to some of these reviews. At 25-30 mins an ep, stick with it. You won't be disappointed.

Better watch the Shorts on Youtube

[Kremer-Thomas · 4/10 · 23 October 2021]

When i saw, that Crypt TV made a full series of the Brute shorts i was exited.

The Youtube Movies were great, the acting superb and the pacing on top.

Now we get the series and it's rather disappointing. I didn't like the charakters and the story drags along. Stopped after three episodes and got back to Youtube to rewatch it there. Hope they will make more of their fantastic short movies.

Vastly inferior copy of Stranger Things

[mjl-06315 · 1/10 · 2 December 2021]

Take Stranger Things, which is a great show, and replace the characters with 1 dimensional garbage, replace the effects from Stranger things with what looks like a bad 90's movie, insert a bunch of completely out of place sexuality elements, and you have "The Girl in the Woods"

Just watch the web-series - not like the source material

[geometrydashbroham · 3/10 · 30 January 2024]

As a fan of the CryptTV web-series that this show is based on, I was excited to hear this story was getting adapted into a full-length TV series. However, I was disappointed by the execution, as it doesn't even feel like the same story. If you are expecting or hoping for a horror series with great practical effects, scares, and gore, like the original, this is not it.

The show takes a "young-adult fantasy" approach rather than even making it a horror series. Even with a much larger budget, the story, acting, effects, and overall quality feels much worse than that of the original pair of YouTube short films. The story is very slow in the first few episodes and the side characters of Trisha and Nolan are very one-dimensional and unlikeable. Even if they were to take the concept of CryptTV's original films and take a young-adult approach, I would've been much more interested to watch a series just following Carrie battling different monsters and exploring the lore of the Disciples of Dawn, as she is the only interesting character in the show.

Unfortunately, it does not do its source material justice, and feels like something straight off The CW. The characters and story were much more developed and flushed out in the original web-series which totalled less than a half-hour in run time than the eight episode series we were given. I truly hope the creators of CryptTV get another chance to show off their talents in mainstream media as they are some of the best and most original horror writers of the 21st century.

Give it a chance

[ppjkkqm · 8/10 · 18 March 2023]

I was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't expecting much going in but I found myself binging the season in one night. Considering each episode is under 30 minutes and there's only 8 episodes, I think it balanced the plot well with fleshing out the characters and world-building.

I've seen some criticism about the 'gender-identity' subplot, but I think it was well done without dragging the main plot too much. It allowed us to understand one of the other characters while giving us insight about the world Carrie comes from too. While the other character struggles with how to explain to others about what it means to be non-binary, Carrie struggles with how she sometimes doesn't feel like a person at all...more like a tool or a weapon. It's a pretty good way to parallel their experience in a way that allows them to get a better understanding of the other.

I look forward to seeing how they continue to flesh out the characters and further the plot in the future. This show has a lot of potential and I don't think it's being given enough credit. Honestly, aside from teenagers and a place that holds "nightmares", this show has nothing in common with 'Stranger Things'. It's an unfair comparison because they have almost nothing in common and this show isn't even trying to be another 'Stranger Things'.

I hope this show gets picked up for another season, hopefully with longer episodes (or more episodes). I look forward to seeing where the show takes us in the future.

Two stars for effort. Is this Canadian?

[loragoodson · 2/10 · 24 October 2021]

Less than two minutes in, this show feels Canadian. I have nothing against Canada-i even lived there for a couple of years and enjoyed it-but nearly every Canadian TV show i have ever seen is distinctly and consistently awful in such a way that I can usually guess that it's Canadian very quickly.

The stats say it was filmed in the US, but this show has got to be a Canadian production. Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it. Either way, it's bad.

Good series

[anhaveit · 10/10 · 23 October 2021]

Two episodes in . And I am enjoying it the story is interesting.

The acting is good. Stefanie Scott is playing the lead roll . And is doing it well . This looks like it's going to get better and better as the story is progressing .....

Could have been better.

[axelrobles-38956 · 3/10 · 30 November 2021]

When I heard Crypt Tv was producing a series I was super hyped. When the day came, me and my partner binged watched the series.

The first episode I gave it a hard pass, as the series continues some of the acting is just really cringe and too hero cliché. Some of the side Characters who could of gotten a redeeming quality didn't receive it. There was barley any character development except for Tasha and Nolan when they declared their love at the end which was lame.

The whole plot surrounding the village and the cult fighting the dark nightmares was good to a point it became questionable and flawed and became a bland area.

Over all it could have been better. It felt rushed and very hero cliché at the end.

Horrible

[camkennedy34 · 1/10 · 5 November 2021]

This show is just horrible. Poor acting, terrible storyline. I've watched the first 3 episodes and cannot do any more. I constantly found myself drifting off due to all the things I listed above.

Is it? No it isn't.

[muratfatih · 4/10 · 5 November 2021]

It is like someone has watched the Stranger Things and guessed he/she could do something like it. But couldn't. Everything in his show seems cheap. Story, acting, visual effects, all seems like sham. 4 from me because the episodes are short and untiring so you can hang around and loaf if you have nothing to do. Bad but not the worst.

Great show for teens and adults!!

[ldybug-49520 · 10/10 · 22 October 2021]

Don't listen to the other reviewers. This show is great!! It's suspenseful and creepy. I want more monsters!! Really hoping for season 2. Love the diverse characters and the inclusivity. My teen actually sat down and binged the whole show with me (normally she doesn't want to hang out with her mom). She said it was really good and relatable to teenage life. Give it a chance!

No original thought written here

[Cilica · 4/10 · 15 November 2021]

Same violence, same prejudices, same plot twists with the same type of characters in all young adult series. Could be so much more with many dimensions but when you see people flogged, scared and hurt you wonder what this society in the woods is really about. Good verses Evil again.

I liked it

[johnnyboygrant · 10/10 · 3 December 2021]

I don't get the bad reviews... I really enjoyed this. I can do without the gender identity rubbish though. Give it a chance, you just might be pleasantly surprised!!

Check out the movie first

[riverzak · 7 November 2021]

I suggest you watch the excellent horror/comedy movie The Cabin in the Woods and then decide for yourself whether or not this series rips off the premise.

Not for most

[doug2go · 3/10 · 23 July 2023]

I agreed with one of the reviewers to watch the first episode and not to rush to judgement - If I had been 12 - I might have actually watched the second episode to completion - this is basiclly CW material for all those who can't vote yet . - I gave it a 3 because the acting was above average - but they had nothing to work with - the story made Hans Christian Anderson look like a non fiction writer by comparison - the basic story is so far fetched as to lose almost anyone with a ounce of interest in reality - Walt Disney wouldn't touch something so ridiculous and ill explained in a 1000 years. Peacock has to raise its standards if it wants to complete with the big boys.