Guillermo del Toro Calls Apple TV's Widow's Bay One of the Best Streaming Series in Years

Right, so in a week where the streaming options are absolutely endless (and more seem to turn up every five minutes), Guillermo del Toro has thrown his weight behind a show you likely haven’t even scrolled past yet: Widow's Bay on Apple TV+. If del Toro’s name rings a bell, think Pan's Labyrinth and Crimson Peak—his taste tends toward the stylishly creepy, so when he says something is brilliant horror television, I tend to pay attention.

Del Toro on Widow's Bay: Not Just Another Horror-Comedy

Over the weekend, del Toro hopped on social media and went all-in on Widow's Bay. He didn’t hold back. According to him:

'If I may- in my estimation- #WidowsBay may very well be the best streaming series in a long time… and hands down one of the most mesmerizing acts of narrative prestidigitation in Horror.'

Now, ‘mesmerizing acts of narrative prestidigitation’ isn’t just any old praise—even for him. That’s basically saying the storytelling is so hypnotic and cleverly executed, you’ll be wondering how they pulled it off. Considering del Toro’s own CV, that’s quite the endorsement.

What Exactly Is Widow's Bay?

For those still catching up: Widow’s Bay is a ten-part horror-comedy set on a superstitious, quite possibly doomed island community in New England. The main character is the local mayor—a born skeptic—who has to wrangle a bunch of extremely fearful townsfolk as all manner of odd curse-related drama unfolds.

• Main cast: Matthew Rhys, Kingston Rumi Southwick, Kate O'Flynn, Stephen Root, Kevin Carroll, Dale Dickey, and assorted supporting oddballs
• Director/Executive Producer: Hiro Murai (not just some random TV director, but the guy behind Atlanta and various Donald Glover projects)
• Creator: Kate Dippold
• Episodes: 10
• Premiere date: 29 April 2026
• Initial reception: Critics are loving it, apparently—particularly the performances, its weird sense of originality, and the deep, quite bonkers lore

Del Toro’s Not Exactly Slowing Down, Either

By the way, if you’ve been wondering where Guillermo del Toro himself is headed post-Frankenstein (which landed last year), he’s deep into at least two new projects. One’s a crime thriller called Fury, starring Oscar Isaac, with a plot that might as well have come from a particularly grim late-night pub conversation: two blokes, haunted by past regrets, bond as they reminisce, travel, and, casually, embark on a murder spree.

On top of that, del Toro’s at work on The Buried Giant—an adult, stop-motion fairy tale featuring Ron Perlman, who he’s worked with before (think the Hellboy films). The setup here: an older couple, Axl and Beatrice, set off to find their son, who they’ve lost touch with and, oddly, can’t remember all that well. It’s very much in del Toro’s backyard: heartsick, eerie, and visually peculiar.