“IT: Welcome to Derry” Review – A Haunting Prequel That Revives Pennywise’s Terror
Sunday night, Oct 26, 2025, HBO premiered the new series “It: Welcome to Derry.” The series is based on the best-selling book and movie “IT” by Stephen King. The new series “IT: Welcome to Derry” is a prequel to (2017) and “It: Chapter Two” (2019), created by Andy Muschietti.
Spoiler alert: this review involves details about the show. The first episode is graphic, bloody, and definitely contains a few moments that will make you jump and get your heart racing.
Sinister Start: “IT Welcome to Derry”
Overall, the first episode of “IT: Welcome to Derry” is an 8 out of 10. On IMDb, the current rating for “IT: Welcome to Derry” is 8.1/10 and is ranked number 11 on the most popular TV show chart.
Compared to Andy Muschietti’s previous “IT” projects, the dialogue is similar, especially the shit talking teens, and his approach to evoking phobias and making ordinary objects scary is already present in the series. The visuals, shock value, and curiosity about how the storyline will develop are an A-plus.
The first episode set the tone of what to expect from future episodes. There are slow moments in the episode. However, those moments either foreshadow events to come or serve as introductions to each character.
The pilot episode of “IT: Welcome to Derry” ends on a cliffhanger and a “what the hell” moment. Pennywise does not appear in this episode, but it is a creature that will have you sleeping with the lights on.
Bloody Beginnings: A Haunting Summary
In the opening scene, for “IT: Welcome to Derry,” Matty Clements, played by Miles Ekhardt, sneaks into a movie theater and is shortly kicked out by the usher. After leaving the theater, he hitchhikes, hoping to leave Derry.
About five minutes into the series, it gets creepy. A strange family picks up Matty. At first glance, they seem perfectly normal, but things suddenly change. It is a family of four, including a pregnant mom. The son’s facial structure is clown-like in the cheek area, and he’s spelling random words. The daughter in the middle picked up a container that said “liver” on it, stuck her finger in, and then proceeded to try to put her bloody fingertips in his face.
Eventually, the family starts spelling crazy words like kidnapping and strangulation. At this point, Matty is trying to escape, only to realize he is heading back to Derry. While attempting to escape, He bumps the mom in the belly, and she goes into labor. What comes out is not human, but to keep from spoiling too much, you have to watch to see what happens next.
This is the last time Matty is seen, and the disappearance that will bring together a new group of kids usually known as the “Losers Club.”
Fear Awakens in Derry: The Episode Summary Continues
Three out of the four kids have their own experience that sends them on the path to looking for Matty, thinking maybe he was kidnapped instead of killed or ran away.
Lily, played by Clara Stack, reflects on a moment she shared with Matty leading up to the famous IT bathroom scene featuring a drain. Without giving away too much, what she sees and hears leads to the theory that he is in the sewers
Terry, played by Mikkal Karim Fidler, experiences a visual nightmare featuring a lamp shade that Ed Gein would be proud of. He shared his dream with the crew, which sparked their own investigation, which began with the local paper.
After reading the paper, the kids end up at the home of the movie theater owner to question his daughter, Veronica, played by Amanda Christine. It gets interesting when the kids share new information, and Veronica tells them she heard kids in the pipes. They head back to the movie theater. Remember that cliffhanger: the end connects back to the beginning of the episode, but what happens in the theater leaves many unanswered questions about what will happen next. Hint, it is a bloody massacre.
Unfinished Nightmares Await in Derry
If this is the first episode, the Halloween episodes will probably have more gore and blood. I will definitely tune in next week because the ending has too many unanswered questions. If you are a fan of the “IT” franchise, “IT: Welcome to Derry” will not disappoint.
