Rotten Tomatoes
Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Season 1 – The Clearing

Play trailer 1:44 Poster for Season 1 – The Clearing May 2023 Mystery & Thriller Crime Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
90% Tomatometer 20 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
A woman must face the demons from her past in order to stop the kidnapping and coercion of innocent children in the future.
Watch on Disney+ Stream Now

Where to Watch

The Clearing — Season 1

The Clearing — Season 1

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Deriving extra flavor from its Australian setting and Miranda Otto's unsettling performance, The Clearing is an eerie thriller with plenty to recommend.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Luke Buckmaster Guardian 05/31/2023
3/5
The show is moody and well-produced, but doesn’t have the atmospheric wow factor of The Gloaming, another recent Australian series that also crossed over into cultishness and religiosity. Go to Full Review
Randy Myers San Jose Mercury News 05/31/2023
3/4
The Clearing eerily succeeds in making us feel how hard it is to break the bonds between a cult-like figure and an entity. Go to Full Review
Karl Quinn The Age (Australia) 05/18/2023
4/5
The Clearing gives us in Adrienne a wicked stepmother to rival any in the extensive Disney canon, only this one is anchored in the real. It’s an impressive first swing in the streamer’s local drama game. Here’s hoping there’s much more to come. Go to Full Review
Stephen A. Russell ScreenHub 12/21/2023
Miranda Otto is magnificently menacing as Byrnes stand-in Adrienne in this creepy miniseries from showrunners Elise McCredie and Matt Cameron. Go to Full Review
Melissa Camacho Common Sense Media 12/13/2023
3/5
The Clearing offers a compellingly sinister viewing experience that's worth investing in. Go to Full Review
Mel Campbell ScreenHub 08/31/2023
4/5
What makes The Clearing so juicy [is that] it recognises that cults thrive on complicity, not raw domination. And it explores with satisfying ambivalence how traumatised people can delude themselves that they’ve mastered their past. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
vineet p Jun 14 Something is very wrong with the other side of equator & it's nothing new, when something is different from them then it's cult, but still follow cheap copy of some middle eastern cult. See more Binod P Jun 13 BORING SHOW.Why they don't make shows about Abrahamic Cults because everyone involved in this kind of show is one of them. See more Wlander F 07/09/2024 Actors have quite well performance, story is good, theere are probably too many back and forth in time that sometimes are boring and makes watching quite uncomfortable. Also this could be a six episode miniseries. Overall very good production, the disclosure of the the reason and motivation of each character will come mainly in the final third of the show. See more Stephen H 06/24/2024 I found this to be intentionally confusing and frustrating. I can do non-linear i…but this film made little attempt to mark time changes that would carry the viewer along . I stayed until the end but for me there was very little reward. See more Marlene P 01/19/2024 The actors are superb but the story was a little long in the tooth. See more Dan R 09/23/2023 The eerie thriller which is 'The Clearing' recently dropped onto Disney+. SYNOPSIS: 'A woman must face the demons from her past in order to stop the kidnapping and coercion of innocent children in the future.' 'The Clearing' feels immeasurably uncomfortable at times with its underlining story of child abduction and brain washing. The writers recognise that cults thrive on complicity, not raw domination and how traumatised people find themselves drawn to very dangerous people. The show is dark and moody, and its Australian setting adds something very different to the story. However, it doesn't have the atmospheric wow factor of 'The Gloaming' (an Australian Disney/Hulu series I've reviewed in the past), which also crossed over into the world of cults and religious sects. It's also difficult to follow at times as the story jumps around in time. All it needed was an onscreen note of the date to resolve this problem. Otherwise though it's a really enjoyable, yet challenging, watch. 7/10 See more Read all reviews
The Clearing — Season 1

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired May 24, 2023 The Season of Unfoldment The abducted girl Asha is taken under the wing of her "sister" Amy and taught the strange and brutal ways of Blackmarsh, ruled over by the The Aunties in devoted service to Adrienne Beaufort, spiritual leader of a cult known as The Kindred. Details Episode 2 Aired May 24, 2023 Kindred After Amy is blamed for not keeping Asha in line, Mummy convinces Amy she will be back in her good graces if she completes her clearing - an unsupervised rite of passage where the child is given LSD to clear away their sins. Details Episode 3 Aired May 31, 2023 Suffer the Little Children Police raid Blackmarsh to rescue the children; Wayne tells Freya their daughter might have run away. Details Episode 4 Aired Jun 7, 2023 The Foundlings Adrienne has been found in Paris; Freya sees Dr. Latham giving a talk on The Kindred. Details Episode 5 Aired Jun 14, 2023 Maitreya Believing she has the power to walk through time, Dr. Latham helps Adrienne form The Kindred. Details Episode 6 Aired Jun 21, 2023 The Pied Piper Adrienne is extradited; Henrik is released from prison, not revealing what happened to Asha. Details Episode 7 Aired Jun 28, 2023 This Too Shall Pass Freya warns Adrienne she'll have her arrested if she reforms The Kindred. Details Episode 8 Aired Jul 5, 2023 Island Searching for Billy, Freya finds Adrienne on a private island relaunching The Kindred. Details
Black Snow 100% 89% Black Snow Watchlist TRAILER for Black Snow Boy Swallows Universe 87% 85% Boy Swallows Universe Watchlist TRAILER for Boy Swallows Universe Mystery Road: Origin 100% 62% Mystery Road: Origin Watchlist The Gulf % 62% The Gulf Watchlist Nine Puzzles 100% % Nine Puzzles Watchlist TRAILER for Nine Puzzles Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Season Info

Creator
Matt Cameron, Elise McCredie
Executive Producer
Matt Cameron, Elise McCredie, Elizabeth Bradley, Jeffrey Walker, Jude Troy, Richard Finlayson
Screenwriter
J.P. Pomare
Network
Hulu
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Crime
Original Language
Australian English
Release Date
May 24, 2023