Best known for her vampire texts, such as Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice explored other areas of the macabre with a trilogy of witchcraft novels. Beginning in 1990 with The Witching Hour, this series follows a family known as the Mayfair Witches. AMC acquired the rights to all of Rice’s works in 2020 – with the indulgently entertaining version of Interview released in 2022 – and now we have the equally lavish production of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches to stimulate us visually.
And visually stimulate it does, with its atmospheric, Gothic New Orleans setting and a series of glitzy balls and parties, both joyful and funereal. The costumes are striking, the sets suitably bewitching, and the strong direction guides you skilfully through this exotic world.
But there is something – dare we say it? – sadly rather restrained about this witchy tale.
The story follows Alexandra Daddario’s Rowan as she discovers her place in a family she knew nothing about while learning to control her emerging powers. Mayfair Witches is a time-switching narrative that spans generations but one that never quite engages in the way you feel it should. There is an interesting story here, albeit tentatively ponderous, yet you feel somewhat peripheral rather than immersed in events. Intriguing characters flit in and out – Harry Hamlin hungrily devours the scenery as an outrageous uncle while Jack Huston broods as the mysterious Lasher – though Daddario’s Rowan feels hollow by comparison in the central role and our window to this world.
As stunningly realised as the world of The Mayfair Witches is, it is a passive beauty compared to its toothier cousin.
ANNE RICE’S MAYFAIR WITCHES: SEASON 1 is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital from January 8th.
