Stephen King-Endorsed 2024 Horror Series Debuts With Solid Rotten Tomatoes Scores

Teacup, the new horror adaptation endorsed by Stephen King, is off to a solid start on Rotten Tomatoes. Teacup recently debuted on Peacock, arriving just in time for the spookiest month of the year. The eight-episode series is based on the Robert McCammon novel Stinger, with The Handmaid's Tale star Yvonne Strahovski and Grey's Anatomy alum Scott Speedman in lead roles. The story centers on an unlikely group in rural Georgia that must work together to face a mysterious danger threatening their survival. King praised the show before its premiere, comparing it to Lost and From.

When taking all reviews into account, Teacup is off to a solid start on Rotten Tomatoes. The adaptation has a 72% based on 18 reviews, with the score breaking down to 6.30 out of 10. However, when narrowed to what the website deems as Top Critics, the rating falls to 44% based on 9 reviews. The score is bound to fluctuate as more reviews come in. But, at this time of writing, five reviews lean negative while the rest lean positive. The consensus is included below:

Stylish and genuinely scary, Teacup's human drama has some spillage but the atmospheric frights of this horror series leave a pleasing aftertaste.

What The Reviews Say About Teacup

There's A Divide About The Show's Effectiveness

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In one of the more positive reviews, Megan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting praises showrunner and executive Ian McCulloch and writes: “McCulloch’s careful plotting and effective atmospherics pay off, resulting in an intense, rewarding inaugural season.” But the issue of plotting and how effective it might be to stretch out to a potential Teacup season 2 is a source of disagreement. Daniel Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter found that the Peacock show was “evasive to the point of utter boredom,” dinging the James Wan-produced horror for strenuously avoiding answers.

Teacup consists of eight half-hour episodes, with two episodes released weekly and the finale dropping on Halloween. At just two episodes a week, with each being roughly 30 minutes.

Several of the reviews fluctuate like this, with some arguing that Teacup is a successful adaptation that blends family angst and effective scares. But while a lot of the reviews highlight that the horror mystery does have memorable visuals and standout moments, the disagreement largely resides in whether the show works across eight episodes. Promola Khosla of IndieWire argues it does, citing the show's lean release schedule: “The tone is perpetually fraught. That’s fine for a two-hour movie; trickier for a six-hour binge; and totally manageable in weekly installments.”

Our Take On Teacup

Sample The First Two Episodes

With a Teacup cast that also includes Chaske Spencer, Kathy Baker, Boris McGiver, Caleb Dolden, Emilie Bierre, and Luciano Leroux, the first two episodes do a good job of introducing the central characters and some of their conflicts. But by the end of the second half-hour, something happens that will nudge the audience into figuring out whether they want to remain with the Wan-produced horror series. Though the overall response is mixed, the Peacock Original is relatively short and fast-paced and that makes it easy to try.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes