That’s unfortunate, because after a slow start, the script offers frequent glimpses of the more cohesive, thematically profound series I wish we’d gotten. Read More: How Smile Pays Tribute to Horror Classics Like The Ring and Rosemary’s Baby And the stories she tells at Midnight Club hint at the crushed dreams and broken friendships that have turned her into such a bitter person. But she’s fiercely devoted to her fellow Brightcliffe residents like many of the characters, she feels that they’re the only people in the world who truly care about her. A foulmouthed Irish girl living with a leg amputation, Anya greets her new companion’s positive thinking with a flood of pessimism.

The only real standout, thanks largely to an astounding, layered portrayal by newcomer Ruth Codd, is Ilonka’s roommate Anya. Spence (Chris Sumpter) is the AIDS patient who’s been rejected by his religious family, and Sandra (Annarah Cymone) is his easily scandalized, super-Christian foil. Amish (Sauriyan Sapkota) is the sweet video-game geek, Natsuki (Aya Furukawa) the depressive artist, Cheri (the mononymic Adia) the daughter of privilege, whose parents send gifts in lieu of visiting. Ilonka’s love interest, Kevin (Igby Rigney), is a dutiful, all-American boy who’s putting on a brave face for his family and a girlfriend with whom he no longer has much in common. Lovable as they are, and despite solid performances from the young cast, these characters are mostly one-dimensional.

Laden with DIY herbal remedies and determined to uncover the source of the hospice’s supposed healing powers, her quest immediately puts her at odds with its concerned but distant founder, Dr. Despite claiming that she just wants to live out her days with peers who understand what she’s going through, the bright, ambitious, desperately optimistic Ilonka (Iman Benson) has actually come to Brightcliffe because she read about a patient, decades ago, who had the same cancer diagnosis as Ilonka and went home cured. The story opens with the arrival at Brightcliffe-a small, homey hospice with the requisite mysterious backstory-of a young woman who refuses to accept her prognosis. Which might explain why the show came out so bland and unfocused. It’s certainly a disturbing setup what’s more frightening, especially at age 16 or 18, than having to face your own imminent death? But even in the context of fiction, it can be tough to wring spooky thrills out of such realistic tragedy without verging into crass pain porn or emotional manipulation. Adapted from the novel by YA-horror eminence Christopher Pike and set in 1994, the same year the book was published, the 10-episode series unfolds at a hospice for teenagers with terminal illnesses.

7, presents a different kind of challenge. His latest project, The Midnight Club, a collaboration with co-creator Leah Fong that hits Netflix on Oct.

The midnight club based on book