''Hemlock Grove'' is an American horror

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

series produced by Eli Roth and developed by Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman. It is a production of Gaumont International Television. The series is based on McGreevy's 2012 novel of the same name. The series premiered on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

on April 19, 2013, with all 13 episodes made immediately available for online viewing. The show examines the strange happenings in Hemlock Grove, a fictional town in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Roman Godfrey, heir to the town's wealthy Godfrey family, befriends the town's newcomer, Peter Rumancek. Recent brutal murders in the town have stirred up rumors, and the two work together to shed light on the case while also hiding their own dark secrets. On June 19, 2013, Netflix renewed ''Hemlock Grove'' for a second season of 10 episodes, to air in 2014. On July 18, 2013, Netflix earned the first

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nominations for original online-only streaming television at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013. Three of its online original series—'' Arrested Development'', ''Hemlock Grove'', and '' House of Cards''—earned nominations. The second season premiered on July 11, 2014. On September 2, 2014, Netflix renewed it for a third and final 10-episode season, which premiered on October 23, 2015. Netflix announced on September 21, 2022 that all three seasons of ''Hemlock Grove'' will be removed from the service on October 22, 2022.

Plot

The series is set in the town of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania. The town is a mixture of extreme wealth and poverty, as the closing of the town's steel mill many years earlier caused many to lose their jobs. The town's main sources of employment are now the Godfrey Institute for Biomedical Technologies and Hemlock Acres Hospital. Heading the Institute—which is rumored to conduct sinister experiments on a daily basis—is the imposing Olivia Godfrey ( Famke Janssen), while Hemlock Acres' lead psychiatrist is Olivia's dead husband's brother, Dr. Norman Godfrey ( Dougray Scott). As season one opens, the town's rumor mill turns even more twisted, as two teenage girls are brutally killed and their bodies left for unsuspecting people to find the next day. Peter Rumancek (

Landon Liboiron Landon Liboiron (born March 10, 1991) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing Declan Coyne in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' and his lead role as Peter Rumancek in Netflix's original series '' Hemlock Grove'' (2013–15). Early li ...

) a 17-year-old

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

boy, is suspected of the crimes by some of the townsfolk; he is also rumored to be a

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

. Secretly, he is, in fact, a werewolf, and, he sets out to solve the mystery of the murders along with the heir to the Godfrey estate, the troubled Roman Godfrey ( Bill Skarsgård). Rounding out the main cast of characters of the first season are Norman's daughter (and Roman's cousin), the beautiful Letha Godfrey (

Penelope Mitchell Penelope Mitchell (born 24 July 1991) is an Australian actress best known for playing the roles of Letha Godfrey in the American horror television series ''Hemlock Grove (TV series), Hemlock Grove'', and Liv Parker in ''The Vampire Diaries''. E ...

) who claims the father of her unborn child is an angel from Heaven, and Christina Wendall (

Freya Tingley Freya Tingley (born 26 March 1994) is an Australian actress. Career Tingley's first professional role was "Young Joan" in Caryl Churchill's play '' Far Away'' for The Black Swan Theatre Company in 2008. Since then she has appeared in a number ...

), a lonely girl who becomes interested in Peter. For season two, two former supporting characters were promoted to the main cast of characters: Peter's

con-artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

older cousin Destiny ( Tiio Horn), who makes her living as a

psychic medium Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...

, and Dr. Johann Pryce (

Joel de la Fuente Joel de la Fuente (born April 21, 1969) is an American actor. He first gained recognition for his role as 1st Lieutenant Paul Wang in '' Space: Above and Beyond'', and is best known for his roles as Dr. Johann Pryce in '' Hemlock Grove'', Kempeita ...

), the lead scientist of the Godfrey Institute, a brilliant but ruthless man of science, gifted with super-strength. A cult has arisen that is bent on destroying the supernatural creatures in Hemlock Grove by any means necessary. To make matters worse, both Peter and Roman struggle with their nature, as Peter risks becoming the same killer from the first season and Roman, after his full immersion with his true nature in the first season, has developed an insatiable hunger to kill. As they fight their enemies and deal with their situations, they must also deal with the monsters they are becoming, or have already become.

Cast

Main

* Famke Janssen as Olivia Godfrey * Bill Skarsgård as Roman Godfrey *

as Peter Rumancek *

as Letha Godfrey (season 1) *

as Christina Wendall (season 1) * Kaniehtiio Horn as Destiny Rumancek (season 2–3; recurring season 1) *

as Dr. Johann Pryce (season 2–3; recurring season 1) * Dougray Scott as Dr. Norman Godfrey (season 1–2) * Nicole Boivin (recurring season 1) and Madeleine Martin (season 3; recurring season 2), as Shelley Godfrey, Roman's heavily deformed but good-hearted sister. While Boivin and Martin are the main actresses portraying the character, Shelley's remarkably large figure is provided, when seen from a distance, by

Amazon Eve Erika Ervin (born February 23, 1979), known professionally as Amazon Eve, is an American model, fitness trainer, and actress. She has appeared on the cover of Australian magazine ''Zoo Weekly'' and played a regular character on '' American Hor ...

for the first five episodes, and by Michael Andreae thereafter. * Camille De Pazzis as Annie Archambeau (season 3)

Recurring

* Lili Taylor as Lynda Rumancek, Peter's mother and confidant (season 1–2) * Laurie Fortier as Marie Godfrey, Norman's wife, and the mother of Letha (season 1–2) * Kandyse McClure as Dr. Clementine Chasseur, a mysterious woman arriving in Hemlock Grove to investigate the killings (season 1) * Aaron Douglas as Tom Sworn, the sheriff of Hemlock Grove (season 1) *

Ted Dykstra Ted Dykstra is a Canadian playwright and actor. He was born in Chatham-Kent, Ontario in 1961 and grew up in St. Albert, Alberta. He is a founding member of Soulpepper Theatre Company. Writing credits include '' Two Pianos Four Hands'', '' D ...

as Francis Pullman, the " village idiot", who claims to have witnessed unspeakable things (season 1) *

Demore Barnes Demore Barnes (born February 26, 1976) is a Canadian actor. Barnes is best known for his roles as Sergeant First Class Hector Williams in the CBS television series '' The Unit'', the archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of ang ...

as Michael Chasseur, Clementine's brother * Luke Camilleri as Andreas Vasilescu (season 2–3) *

JC MacKenzie John Charles MacKenzie (born October 17, 1970) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for portraying Skip Fontaine on the HBO series ''Vinyl'' (2016) and Reagan "Normal" Ronald on the Fox series '' Dark Angel'' (2000–2002). He has also appea ...

as Dr. Arnold Spivak (season 2–3) *

Madeline Brewer Madeline Kathryn Brewer (born May 1, 1992) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Tricia Miller in the Emmy award-winning series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013), her role in '' Hemlock Grove'' (2014–2015), and her lead role a ...

as Miranda Cates (season 2–3) * Shauna MacDonald as Dr. Galina Zheleznova-Burdukovskaya (formerly Alyona Potyomkina-Zosimova), a brilliant Russian scientist working under Dr. Pryce (season 2) * Alex Hernandez as Isaac Ochoa, a private detective (season 3) * Richard Gunn as Aitor Quantic (season 3) * Emmanuel Kabongo as Marshall (season 3) *

Michael Therriault Michael Therriault is a Canadian actor. He attended Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto, Sheridan College in Oakville, and was a member of the inaugural season of the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre Training in Stratford, Ontario ...

as Dr. Klaus Blinsky (season 3) *

Anthony J. Mifsud Anthony J. Mifsud is a Maltese-born Canadian actor, singer and songwriter. He performs professionally under the moniker Mif. Career Mif began his entertainment career in Toronto as the singer for hard rock/ heavy metal musical group Slash Puppe ...

as Greek Delivery man (season 3) * Meegwun Fairbrother as Milan Faber (season 3)

Guest

Eliana Jones Eliana Jones (born October 28, 1997) is a Canadian actress. She first came to attention as the younger version of the Alex character on ''Nikita'' (2010–2012), and in the recurring role of Alexa Sworn, one of the twin daughters of the sheriff ...

and Emilia McCarthy as Alexa and Alyssa Sworn, Sheriff Sworn's twin daughters, and Christina's best friends *

Holly Deveaux Holly Deveaux is a Canadian actress. She is known for starring in the television series '' Baxter'', ''Less Than Kind'', and ''Spun Out''. Career In 2012, Deveaux was cast as Casey Anthony in '' Prosecuting Casey Anthony'', a television movie ba ...

as Jenny Fredericks, a local convenience store clerk *

Don Francks Don Harvey Francks (February 28, 1932 – April 3, 2016), also known by his stage name Iron Buffalo, was a Canadian actor, musician and singer. Career Don Harvey Francks was born on February 28, 1932, and was adopted shortly after his birth. H ...

as Nicolae Rumancek, Peter's deceased grandfather. Seen in flashbacks. * Philip Craig as the Bishop, a contact of Clementine's * Alanis Peart as Mrs. Pisarro, Peter's and Roman's English teacher * Emily Piggford as Ashley Valentine, a schoolmate of Roman's who develops a crush on him * Jacqueline Graham as Lisa Willoughby, a local girl who becomes the second murder victim *

Paul Popowich Paul Popowich is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Mr. Smith, an angel who helps people change their pasts, in season two of '' Twice in a Lifetime''. Popovich has performed in many television series, including ''Beverly H ...

as JR Godfrey, Roman's deceased father, husband of Olivia, and brother of Norman. Seen in flashbacks. * Landon Norris as Tyler, a fellow schoolmate, with a romantic interest in Christina * Joe Bostick as Vice Principal Spears, the vice principal of the local high school * Lorenza Izzo as Brooke Bluebell, a local girl, whose brutal murder opens the series *

Marty Adams Marty Adams is a Canadian television and film actor/writer and comedian. He began a football program at McMaster University but injured his knee. His sister encouraged him to get involved in a comedy program at Humber College which got him hi ...

William deVry William deVry (born 20 April 1968) is a Canadian film, television theatre, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in American daytime soap operas, as Tim Dolan on '' Port Charles'', as Michael Cambias on ''All My Children'', as Storm L ...

, Jasmin Geljo,

Ashleigh Harrington Ashleigh Harrington (born ) is a Canadian actress. She is the star of '' The Girls on Film'' and can also be seen in the second season of the BBC America series, ''Copper'', the Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-dem ...

and Dylan Trowbridge portray the town's Deputy Sheriffs, nicknamed respectively Neck, Chin, Moustache, Lips, and Nose

Development and production

In December 2011, ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wi ...

'' reported that Netflix and Gaumont International Television were finalizing a deal for a 13-episode series order for ''Hemlock Grove''. The project was officially announced in March 2012. Eli Roth serves as an executive producer and will direct the pilot, ''Jellyfish In the Sky''. Deran Sarafian, who signed on in mid-March as an executive producer/series director, directed six episodes. After McGreevy pushed for the series to be filmed in the Pittsburgh area, production was expected to start in early June 2012 and last until November. In mid May, Gaumont International Television pulled out of Pennsylvania in favor of production at the

Cinespace Film Studios Cinespace Film Studios is a series of film studio facilities founded in 1988, by Greek-Canadian Nick Mirkopoulos. It includes a facility in Vaughan, that has been in operation since the 1960s. In 2007 Mirkopoulos helped his Greek-American nepheA ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. The move came about after Gaumont management had a misunderstanding on how the Pennsylvania Film Tax Credit program works. Filming began on July 13, 2012 in

Port Perry Port Perry is a community located in Scugog, Ontario, Canada. The town is located northeast of central Toronto and north of Oshawa and Whitby. Port Perry has a population of 9,453 as of 2016. Port Perry serves as the administrative and commerc ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

; a small town about 40 miles (63 km) northeast of Toronto that has been transformed to look like Hemlock Grove, the fictional Western Pennsylvania town the series is set in. The budget for the first season of ''Hemlock Grove'' is reportedly about $45 million. Filming took place in Toronto at St Clair and Yonge at the Deer Park United Church and in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

Hamilton Cemetery Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, is the oldest public burial ground in the city. It is located on Burlington Heights, a high sand and gravel isthmus that separates Hamilton's harbor on the east from Cootes Paradise on the ...

. Hemlock Grove High School was filmed at

Ursula Franklin Academy Ursula Franklin Academy (colloquially known as UFA; pronounced as oo-faa) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the High Park neighbourhood, it was owned by the Toronto Board of Education until its merger into the Toro ...

/ Western Technical Commercial School in Toronto. It was also filmed in

Oshawa Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the ...

at the

Parkwood Estate The Parkwood Estate, located in Oshawa, Ontario, was the residence of Samuel McLaughlin (founder of General Motors of Canada) and was home to the McLaughlin family from 1917 until 1972. The residence was designed by Darling and Pearson, a not ...

; the opening scene of Season 1, Episode 1 is on Queen Street in Port Perry, Ontario.

Casting

In March, Netflix announced that Famke Janssen and Bill Skarsgård would star in the series, Janssen as Olivia Godfrey and Skarsgård as her son, Roman Godfrey. In early April 2012, it was revealed that Peter Rumancek would be portrayed by

. On April 4, Penelope Mitchell was cast as Roman's cousin, Letha Godfrey. Freya Tingley was cast as Christina Wendall on April 10. On April 12, Dougray Scott was announced as Dr. Norman Godfrey, Olivia's brother-in-law and Letha's father. On July 2, Lili Taylor was cast as Peter Rumancek's mother, and Kandyse McClure was cast as Dr. Chasseur. Aaron Douglas was cast as Sheriff Sworn on July 8. In late July 2012, Kaniehtiio Horn joined the cast as Destiny Rumancek.

Music

The music for seasons 1 and 2 was composed by

Nathan Barr Nathan Barr (born February 9, 1973; also known as Nate Barr) is an American film and television composer and musician. His television scores include '' True Blood'', ''The Americans'', '' Carnival Row'', and ''The Great''. He won a Primetime E ...

. In October 2015, it was announced that Todd Haberman would join Barr to score season 3.

Reception

Viewership

After its opening weekend, Netflix announced that "''Hemlock Grove'' was viewed by more members globally in its first weekend than '' House of Cards''."

Critical reception

The first season of ''Hemlock Grove'' received "mixed or average" reviews, according to

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, with a score of 45 out of 100. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the season has a rating of 26%, based on 34 reviews, and the average rating is 4.68/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Hemlock Grove'' is an ugly, unpleasant affair that throws crazy ideas together without much forethought." The second season received "generally unfavorable" reviews, according to Metacritic, with a score of 37 out of 100. Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a rating of 55%, based on 11 reviews, and the average rating is 5.29/10. The site's consensus reads: "''Hemlock Grove'' jettisons some of its most grating qualities while doubling down on its splashy gore, making for a more engaging second season – but the series frustratingly remains a shoddy amalgamation of gothic tropes." Mary McNamara of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' called ''Hemlock Grove'' "terrible", and Alison Willmore of

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

, "a mess". Zack Handlen of '' The A.V. Club'' gave the series an F, calling it "a shockingly inane misstep, a ponderous mess." Dante D'Orazio of ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media ...

'' said the show was "universally panned" on account of its "poor acting, slow plot development, and ... style that's off-key." Patrick Smith of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' said that ''Hemlock Grove'' was "corny and emphatically less profound than it thinks it is", giving it two out of five stars overall. James Poniewozik of ''Time'' listed the series as one of the worst ten things on television in 2013. On the other hand, David Hiltbrand of the ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' said that the show "manages to be lush, gross, frightening, and ridiculous--all at the same time." Tom Gliatto of ''People Weekly'' reviewed the series positively, with a score of 75 out of 100: "The acting is good, especially Bill Skarsgard and Landon Liboiron.... I like the show's languid, dreamlike beauty, but horror fans may be less patient." Jessica Shaw of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' gave the series a B+.

Accolades

''Hemlock Grove'' received two nominations for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects at the 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, but lost to '' Da Vinci's Demons'' and ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of '' A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the fir ...

'', respectively.

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018) 2010s American high school television series 2010s American horror television series 2013 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings American thriller television series Fictional representations of Romani people English-language Netflix original programming Television shows based on American novels Television series by Gaumont International Television Television shows filmed in Hamilton, Ontario Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows set in Pennsylvania Television about werewolves