The idea first took shape as a play nearly a decade ago before evolving into an eight-episode television series, written entirely by Sandler. At its centre is Baba Yaga, one of the most fascinating and unpredictable figures in Slavic folklore.
Sandler says her fascination with witches began when she was growing up on Disney princess stories and traditional fairy tales.
Her discovery of Baba Yaga gave that fascination a new direction. “Then I discovered Baba Yaga: the OG bad girl of folklore. Eating bones? Incredible. House on chicken feet? Perfect. Flying through the woods in a mortar and pestle? Let’s Go.” What particularly interested Sandler was that Baba Yaga was not defined by her appearance or by the heroes who eventually defeated her. Instead, she was a character with her own identity, choices and code.
She continues, “Most fairy tale witches are defined by geography, aesthetics, or the heroes who kill them: ‘The White Witch,’ ‘The Wicked Witch of the West,’ ‘the witch from Hansel and Gretel.’ Baba Yaga is remembered not for how she dies, but for how she lives. And people know her name. Across folklore, Baba Yaga is everything at once: monster, wise woman, boogeyman, saviour, trickster, villain, mentor. Sometimes she helps the hero, and sure, sometimes she eats him, but she refuses to resolve into one thing, and lives and acts by her own code. That moral ambiguity is what makes her feel so modern, so dangerous, and so deeply resonant with women now.”
That complexity forms the foundation of Sandler’s adaptation. The series brings together elements of folklore, fairy tale, noir thriller, police procedural, horror and feminist revenge fantasy.
Starring Noah Reid, Carrie-Anne Moss, Clark Backo and Hudson Williams, YAGA is streaming on Lionsgate Play.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: filmfare.com
