Sundance TV New Series Cleverman – Where Ancient Mythology And Politics Collide

Sundance TV has an incredible show on their hands within the Cleverman series. The show is set in a large Australian city, sometime in the future, where technology has created a very safe and monitored existence for humanity, one that is almost too safe.

A small ancient aboriginal tribe is discovered to be living near the city, and the members are brought in to live among civilized society. When old world and new world meet, chaos ensues and the tribal people, who are considered to be less than human because of their culture and appearance while actually being far superior physically to regular humans, are forced to live in the slums in the outlying communities. The tribe has a tradition of the Cleverman, a priest of sort who is the pathway between this world and “The Dreaming” or spirit world.

The Cleverman has special abilities such as healing, predicting the future, talking to other spirits, and cannot die my human means. Jimmy, the tribe’s elderly Cleverman, decides it is his time to die, and passes on the power and duty of being a priest to his very unwilling and unscrupulous nephew, Koen. In order for the process to be complete, Jimmy must die. He performs the sacred ritual to call down a demon to sever Jimmy’s mortal coil, only to have the demon decide to stick around here on earth after he separates Jimmy’s heart from his chest, killing him. The demon goes on a bit of a murder spree, but is never seen in action, so out of ignorance people begin to blame the tribe for the deaths. The fear makes for great TV, and the local politicians use the media to create more hatred and boost public approval to have the tribe eliminated. The only person that can save the tribe, bring about peace, and slay the demon is Koen, who struggles with doing the right thing for his people or walking away from it all.

The show is very well written with very human characters who have depth. The soundtrack is brilliant, and the story line is original, and the series flows very well. It is no wonder Cleverman has been picked up for another season.

Starring Hunter Page-Lochard, Rob Collins, Ryan Corr

Directed By Wayne Blair (4 episodes) and Leah Purcell (2 episodes)

Cleverman Official Trailer can be seen here.