The Parochial Fantastic: Australian Television Fantasy in 'Bloom' and 'Tidelands'

Global tides result in local ripples, as Australia's largest streaming services respond to the burgeoning demand for genre products: from Netflix comes the pulpy Tidelands, while Stan offers the more sedate and thoughtful Bloom. Yet, while both confidently employ fantasy tropes, each betrays a discomfort in setting them against a familiar Australian landscape, writes Travis Johnson.

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supernatural, genre, speculative fiction, modernity, youth, age, mythology, mermaid, elixir of youth, siren, suburbia, Jacki Weaver, Elsa Pataky, Bryan Brown.