SummarySabrina (Kiernan Shipka) juggles life as a sophomore at Baxter High and as a witch with her Aunts Hilda (Lucy Davis) and Zelda (Miranda Otto) in this darker coming-of-age series based on the comic book series of the same name.
SummarySabrina (Kiernan Shipka) juggles life as a sophomore at Baxter High and as a witch with her Aunts Hilda (Lucy Davis) and Zelda (Miranda Otto) in this darker coming-of-age series based on the comic book series of the same name.
There are a lot of surprising things about Sabrina, the fall’s first truly binge-worthy new show. It’s a delight and an obsession, and the scariest thing about it is just how good it is.
The ominous setting plays into the high stakes facing Sabrina and her friends, while the efficient scripts and lavish production design build an immersive, exciting space to explore them. To say it’s the best “Sabrina” yet is a bit reductive, but it’s certainly a new series worth screaming about.
Shipka has the gravitas to make this Sabrina the toughest yet, a violent femme who comes on like Joan of Arc crashing into a mastermix of Harry Potter and The Craft. ... This Netflix I-love-you-but-I’ve-chosen-darkness YA scream is more than just a great high-school horror trip. It proudly carries on 50 years of teenage witch tradition.
The star is Kiernan Shipka, Sally from “Mad Men,” and she brings an appealingly sincere touch as she mixes phrases such as “dark baptism” into her teen lexicon. Her aunts, played by Miranda Otto and Lucy Davis, are kooky excellence. The show, “Riverdale”-adjacent, also has a great retro look with vestiges of foggy, pulpy horror.
This is a show that’s willing to both revel in the witch fantasy and to think about its limitations in a way I’ve never quite seen a TV show do before, to examine about what kind of women are allowed to be powerful, and what kinds of boundaries are put upon them in consequence. And it has an incredible amount of fun while it does so.
While the gothic backdrop and juicy performances give "Sabrina" zest, the show feels lacking in the qualities that would distinguish it from "Charmed," or "Legacies," whose ensemble cast includes not just teenage witches but vampires, werewolves and hybrids.
It’s trying to be the moody, teen-tastic interpretation of it. As Sabrina keeps using dark magic in situations she probably should not, Shipka’s bright professionalism wards off any real tension.