RON’S BEARD VS. LORD OF THE FLIES (2026)

When you’re adapting one of the most popular works in the literary canon, you have to find a new angle. Ron’s beard faces off against the decline of a small part of western civilization, but is LORD OF THE FLIES worth 4 hours?

Following a plane crash, a group of young boys become stranded on a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean in the early 1950s. Ralph attempts to lead the boys, with help from the intellectual ‘Piggy’, in the hope of surviving and seeking rescue, but Jack starts a rebellion and their makeshift society starts to fall apart.

Directed by: Marc Munden

Written by: William Golding

Created by: Jack Thorne

Starring: Winston Sawyers, Lox Pratt, David McKenna, Ike Talbut, Thomas Connor, Noah Flemyng, Cassius Flemyng

Run Time: 240 minutes (4 episodes)

One of the most enduring and award-winning works of literature ever, LORD OF THE FLIES remains a hot-button issue 72 years after its initial publication in 1954. It remains one of the most popular books for young adults, regularly appears on 100 best book lists, and is also one of the most challenged books in schools because of its bleak look at the downfall of civilized society when there’s nothing to stop the powerful from taking advantage of the weak. LORD OF THE FLIES was adapted into movies in 1963, 1975, and 1990. An aborted all-female version from 2017 was reworked into the 2021 hit TV show YELLOWJACKETS, and an all-female adaptation called LADYWORLD came out in 2018.

And now, the BBC and Australian broadcaster STAN have teamed together to release a splashy, big-budget adaptation for the streaming set on iPlayer and Netflix, taking cues from the other versions of the property that came before and layering on a heavy dose of style to go along with the book’s substance. As much of a meme as “Sucks to your ass-mar” became in my high school when we read that book, there’s no denying the emotional impact of the story if you’re not an edgelord teenager, and seeing just how young the “big ones” of the island are, and how helpless the “little ’uns” are makes the story have that much more impact for those of us who have not-quite-grown children in our lives, either as a parent, caretaker, or just a fun aunt or uncle.

Make no mistake, LORD OF THE FLIES makes sure you realize just how young these children are, closing episodes with montages of each child’s face as they morph from bruised and scared by the plane crash to increasing more dangerous and feral, with each passing moment on the island and each disagreement between Ralph (Winston Sawyers) and Jack (Lox Pratt). Piggy (David McKenna) is clearly the brains of the operation and the child behind the community’s early successes (building shelters, not soiling the water supply, keeping a signal fire) while Simon (Ike Talbut) is the conscience that’s trying to keep Jack tethered to reality and prevent the very breakup of civilization that takes place over the four episodes of the series. All four main actors are excellent in their roles, and the background children also excel as providing color to the scenes and adding to the sense of chaos and fear and hate that overtakes the camps after they split from one another, with Piggy’s thoughtful group trying to maintain rules and order and Jack’s group giving into the lust of the hunt and the desire to kill, rather than build.

One of the issues with LORD OF THE FLIES is that so many other properties have cribbed from it, from Kinji Fukasaku’s BATTLE ROYALE (2000) to THE HUNGER GAMES (2012) and pretty much every other teenage dystopian sci-fi novel involving starving teenagers thrown together in a struggle for survival. Even when it’s not directly referenced, like in Stephen King’s IT, and when it is like in CUJO, it’s clear that the DNA of the story, and the idea behind it, remains one that authors and creatives are still clinging to today, and with good reason. It’s a rare book that lasts for decades, through hundreds of challenges and public outcry, to become a cornerstone in the global literary canon whose influence is still being felt today.

There’s a reason LORD OF THE FLIES shot to the top of Netflix’s watch lists and the award nominations are already starting to come in for something that’s been out for roughly a week and a half. It’s hard to take a property so familiar to anyone who has ever seen a movie with murder teenagers and give it renewed impact, but that’s what Jack Thorne and Marc Munden are able to pull off with this beautifully done adaptation. It’s raw, it’s trippy, it doesn’t shy away from the controversial material, and it attacks the audience fearlessly.

With every passing episode, things look increasingly hopeless for the civilized side of the equation, but it’s difficult to look away thanks to the style used to shoot the material. The feral hunters fight violently for control of the island’s resources from the only people trying to preserve them for everyone else thanks to the allure of fun and games. Good stewardship and clean drinking water isn’t very fun; it’s much more fun to hunt for pigs, wear terrifying horror movie masks, and throw wild revels around a massive bonfire.

As Jack might say, “Sucks to your rules, Piggy!”

Ron Hogan is a writer, podcaster, gadabout, and raconteur from Louisville, Kentucky. You can read his written works at Den of Geek, Film Stories, and at several magazines and sites that no longer exist. You can hear his voice (and potentially see his magnificent beard) on the Film Strip Podcast.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.