The Callous Horror of <em>Servant</em>

There was a brief moment during early episodes when I was actually enjoying , M. Night Shyamalan and Tony Basgallop’s new series for Apple TV+. The show has been marketed as a work of psychological horror about a young couple who have experienced unspeakable loss, and yet it functions best early on as a surreal comedy about the grotesque excesses of the modern bourgeoisie. Dorothy (played by ’s Lauren Ambrose) is a local TV reporter in Philadelphia with the rictus grin and terrifying positivity of a professional ballroom dancer. She’s married to Sean (Toby Kebbell), a chef and food influencer, and the couple live in a rowhouse ripped from an spread, all floral’s cinematographer, the frequent Shyamalan collaborator Mike Gioulakis, imbues the show’s epicurean interludes with sensual horror, like an episode of directed by Eli Roth.