Lox Pratt

Lox Pratt allows Jack Merridew to look uncertain. In Lord of the Flies (2026), we watch for the boy’s responses rather than simply waiting for the next turn of the plot. That is a considerable strength in an adaptation that could easily leave its young cast delivering lessons. We found the series frightening because Pratt and his fellow actors make the boys’ cruelty feel so unforced. His Jack remains recognisably a child, which makes him harder to dismiss.

Director Marc Munden and writer Jack Thorne give him a strong setting, though the four episodes stretch the material. Munden’s more peculiar images might have overwhelmed less convincing performances; here, the plainness of the acting keeps us interested in the children. David McKenna’s Piggy and Winston Sawyers’s Ralph matter to that effect alongside Pratt’s Jack. He benefits from a group in which nobody seems to be carefully reciting important material.

There are few credits to consider, so a settled account of Pratt’s habits would be premature. What works in Jack is the combination of charisma and vulnerability: the swagger has enough feeling beneath it to avoid a one-note bully. It also gives us a useful standard for judging what follows. His casting as Draco Malfoy in the television adaptation of Harry Potter, announced in June 2025, continues the association with literary antagonists. We would not mistake a second casting for a second achievement.

Swagger can be repeated until it becomes a shortcut, and a young actor should not have to build every performance around it. We would like to see what Pratt does with a character who is not already expected to make trouble, and with a director willing to let him look unsure. Start with Lord of the Flies, allowing for the stretched material; the young actors justify the time.