Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Mayfair Witches: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

New Orleans saints and sinners.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 29, 2023

AMC's 2020 acquisition of all 18 of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles books (which occurred almost two full years before her untimely passing in late 2021) was an eyebrow-raising moment for die-hard fans... yet most skeptics were at least fairly impressed with the first TV adaptation out of the gate, Interview with the Vampire. It featured liberal changes to the source material yet still kept the source material's spirit intact, so by that logic you'd expect 2023's Mayfair Witches to carry the torch proudly. Sadly, this sophomore slump is a much less impressive effort with bad casting, character swaps, and a glacial pace that makes portions of its eight-episode first season a chore to sit through.

Changing its strong central character into a whiny man-chaser should at least yield base-level soap opera enjoyment and make Mayfair Witches a guilty pleasure, but its biggest sin is that it's just boring. The entire affair feels cold and impersonal, with a hard-to-follow narrative that makes you regret having to pay such close attention to its broken plot and copious changes to the source material that include the removal of two fan-favorite characters inexplicably merged into one store-brand amalgamation. But aside from these downgrades, the casting of central character Rowan Fielding is perhaps its most damning flaw: Alexandra Daddario just feels wrong for the role, both in appearance and a demeanor that makes her instantly tough to root for. Don't get me wrong: there are Baywatch jokes to be made, but Daddario earned an Emmy nomination for The White Lotus so she's capable of more. Instead, we get a pediatric neurosurgeon with burgeoning kinetic powers who acts like a mousy supporting character on Grey's Anatomy.

Debut episode "The Witching Hour" introduces Rowan, who needs a miracle to cure her adoptive mother Elena's cancer. Hoping to get her into a new stem-cell clinical trial, Rowan reluctantly asks her pushy, bulling boss (Jim Gleason) for a reassignment but is denied; her mounting stress and anger somehow manifest into a projected brain bleed, leaving him hospitalized on the spot. (It happens again to yet another misogynist later, yet no one asks any questions.) Rowan is perplexed and at least seems remorseful for her actions, yet her mother downplays any fault while obviously knowing more than she lets on. One of mom's contacts is Ciprien Grieve (Tongayi Chirisa), an empath who works for the secret society Talamasca; he's been assigned to Rowan and also monitors an invalid woman named Dierdre Mayfair (Annabeth Gish, with her younger self played by Cameron Inman) in New Orleans, as well as a curious supernatural being named Lasher (Jack Huston, more on him later) who's been spiritually bound to the family for generations.

As this eight-episode season continues, it unfortunately doesn't get more engaging. Seams in the story begin to show and other problems arise, such as the creative team's decision to remove two of the original books' most important supporting characters -- Michael Curry, a future love interest for Rowan whom she had saved from drowning; and Aaron Lightner, a British member of the Talamasca -- and combine them into a totally new character (Ciprien Grieve), which ultimately robs this first season of a lot of interesting Mayfair family lore. It's one of several source material changes that, unlike most of those made for Interview with the Vampire, stick out for the wrong reasons.

Late film critic Roger Ebert once said “It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.” I'm assuming this applies to TV shows as well, and The Mayfair Witches clearly "hows" the wrong way. The flow, atmosphere, and script of these episodes don't exactly prompt viewer interest, turning what could be a neatly-unfolding narrative into a dull mess... especially if you're not at least passively familiar with the source material yet. (On the other hand, die-hard fans may hate it for different reasons.) Character boundaries aren't established well enough to give them proper motivation, the dialogue is sketchy, and casting problems exist beyond the central character; Jack Huston doesn't project any real degree of ethereal mystique as Lasher, which makes everyone's infatuation with him all the more puzzling.

Needless to say, it's not a great start for a show that's somehow already greenlit for a second season, which means my excitement for an inevitable follow-up review isn't very high. (I'll admit to at least being passively intrigued, because there's almost no place to go but up.) Unfortunately in the meantime, this Blu-ray release by RLJ Entertainment won't exactly generate much positive word-of-mouth to build a fanbase; it's solid from an A/V perspective but contains no bonus features and, despite the relatively low price tag, still isn't exactly the strongest blind buy around.

Mayfair Witches: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Much like Interview with the Vampire, RLJ's Blu-ray transfer of Mayfair Witches ticks most of the boxes for a largely satisfying visual presentation. Fine detail, textures, contrast levels, and more are all up to par in well-lit and outdoor scenes, with lower-light and nighttime scenes unavoidable looking a little flat and mushy. Interview at least skates by with more ambitious production design and a more lively setting, whereas this show leans a bit too heavy on the blues and grays to create real visual interest; in fact, it might be part of the reason I felt bored so often. Regardless of its visual intentions, though, this is a well-encoded set that includes four episodes apiece on each dual-layered disc and shows trace signs of banding and black crush but nothing out of the ordinary for this format. Black levels likewise run a little light at times, which may be more of a source material issue than anything else. Overall, this is a solid effort and, if nothing else, it's a safe bet that the episodes these discs easily outperform their streaming counterparts.

Mayfair Witches: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio follows suit with a largely engaging and immersive DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix that, if nothing else, serves up an enveloping sonic atmosphere with strong channel separation, crisp dialogue, and good use of surrounds with an ample amount of mid-range bass that serves its soundtrack well. It's a nicely-mixed production and, unlike the story itself, everything's consistently easy to follow and there are no obvious bumps in the road. Likewise, this is probably a solid step or two up from streaming audio quality and that's certainly good news for established fans.

An optional Spanish dub and subtitles in both languages are included.

Mayfair Witches: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc set ships in a keepcase with shadowy cover art, a matching slipcover, and a promotional insert. Oddly, no extras of any kind are included -- not even a convention Q&A like those on other recent AMC show Blu-rays.

Mayfair Witches: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

AMC's adaptation of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches is a pale imitation of its popular source material, not to mention a much less successful attempt at world-building than last year's Interview with the Vampire. It's mostly dull and even confusing during considerable stretches... and even at just eight episodes, this first season feels more like an obligation than binge-worthy material. For these reasons alone, RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray set is for established fans only.