TV Show review
October 25, 2022 · TV-MA · Ended
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities.
Woke representation / casting
Noticeable diversity appears in several episodes in prominent or story-contrast roles, including Latina immigrant Amelia as sympathetic victim of the white bigot in "Lot 36," Black actor Glynn Turman as competent sheriff in "The Autopsy," and Asian-American actress Charlyne Yi as accomplished astrophysicist in "The Viewing" alongside Black musician guest. Patterns emphasize identity contrasts or competent POC figures in key stories more than pure incidental modern demographics. Casting directors lack activist reputations.
Woke political dialogue
Almost none. Horror relies on visuals, actions, and supernatural outcomes. "Lot 36" lets the protagonist voice xenophobic and right-wing views to mark him as unsympathetic, but these do not drive debate or messaging speeches.
Identity-driven story themes
A minority of episodes foreground identity-tinged or social elements. "The Outside" centers female body dysmorphia, workplace beauty pressures, and conformity horror from a woman's perspective. "The Murmuring" emphasizes maternal grief and historical female tragedy. "Lot 36" uses the protagonist's xenophobia and bigotry as central flaw triggering doom. Remaining episodes stay closer to creature, cosmic, or gothic premises without strong identity arcs.
Review
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities is a 2022 Netflix horror anthology miniseries with eight standalone episodes released over four nights. It features gothic, cosmic, body, and supernatural tales curated by del Toro, drawn from original stories and public-domain works by authors including H.P. Lovecraft and Henry Kuttner, with different directors and writers per episode. Select stories incorporate themes of a xenophobic veteran's greed and prejudice leading to supernatural punishment after he refuses a Mexican immigrant woman's claim on family items, a woman's grotesque body transformation driven by desire to fit into shallow female workplace beauty culture, and a grieving mother's haunting tied to a 1950s domestic tragedy of abandonment and infanticide.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Mild and story-embedded. "Lot 36" frames a greedy, bitter, xenophobic right-wing veteran amid Nazi items and capitalism-driven desperation as self-doomed. "The Outside" satirizes consumer beauty culture and shallow female social conformity. "The Viewing" shows wealthy elite entitlement and tampering with cosmic forces. "The Murmuring" shows 1950s domestic despair from male abandonment. These function as character flaws or period horror rather than modern activist systemic critiques of capitalism, patriarchy, whiteness, or institutions.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. Episodes use original del Toro stories or adaptations of public-domain Lovecraft and Kuttner works. No established characters, canon, or real historical figures reinterpreted through identity, DEI, or ideological lenses.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
User complaints appear on Metacritic and Reddit calling the series or episodes "woke" or pushing "identity politics," specifically citing "Lot 36"'s punishment of the conservative bigot and "The Outside"'s female body-image satire. Some reviews express disappointment at del Toro projects "fall[ing] to identity politics." Backlash stayed limited to scattered user reviews and forum comments without major news coverage, viral campaigns, or broad public debate.
Creator track record context
Guillermo del Toro (cached 39/100) curates with a pattern of outsider empathy and occasional representation comments. Contributors include higher-leaning voices such as Haley Z. Boston (cached 49/100, queer horror with feminist theory and women's autonomy focus), Jennifer Kent (feminist horror and historical colonial/patriarchal violence themes in prior films), and Catherine Hardwicke (women director advocacy and social messaging). Balanced by lower figures including Panos Cosmatos (cached 3/100), David S. Goyer (cached 14/100), Ana Lily Amirpour (cached 13/100), and others. Overall selection shows moderate progressive genre lean without dominant activist center.
Production
