--- title: "Yellowjackets" year: 2021 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/yellowjackets" fi1m_score: 76 critics_score: 75 critics_reviews: 11 published: "2026-09-17T04:00:10.325270+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T04:00:22.959087+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Yellowjackets (2021) Created by Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson · MPA TV-MA · Drama, Mystery **Fi1m score: 76** · Critics 75 from 11 reviews *In a sentence:* The woods were the easy part; the twenty-five years of pretending afterwards are what do the damage > A New Jersey girls’ soccer team goes down in the mountains in 1996 and the survivors, twenty-five years on, are still lying about it. The woods half is tense, funny and frightening; the present-day half is a thinner show carried by better actors. ## Synopsis New Jersey, 1996. A high school girls’ soccer team, the Yellowjackets, boards a chartered plane to the national championships and comes down in the mountains, far from any road. Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) is the quiet one, doing the homework of her best friend and team captain Jackie (Ella Purnell); Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) will do anything to win; Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) is the one always in trouble; Misty (Sammi Hanratty) is the equipment manager nobody talks to. Twenty-five years on, Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) is a bored housewife with a teenage daughter, Taissa (Tawny Cypress) is running for office, Misty (Christina Ricci) is a nurse, and someone has begun sending postcards that suggest they know what happened out there. ## Review *Yellowjackets* has a premise you can say in a sentence. A New Jersey high school girls’ soccer team flies to the national championships in the spring of 1996, the plane comes down in the mountains, and not all of them come home. Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, who created the series, tell it in two halves run side by side: the girls in the woods, and the women they became, twenty-five years on, keeping their mouths shut in the suburbs. The woods half is tense, funny and frightening, and we would recommend it to anyone with the stomach for a 15 certificate. The suburban half is a lesser show that happens to share the same faces, and the series never quite admits it. Karyn Kusama directs the first episode and opens it with the ending, or something near it: a girl in a thin nightdress running barefoot through snow, a fall, a pit of sharpened stakes, and then figures in furs and masks sitting down to eat by a fire. C. Kim Miles shoots it in bleached white and firelight and does not show a single face. We were horrified, we noticed we had leaned forward, and we spent ten episodes trying to work out which of the girls we had just met would be wearing the mask. That is the engine of the series and it is a good one. The girls are cast for difference and they stay different. Sophie Nélisse’s Shauna is the quiet one who does the homework for her best friend Jackie (Ella Purnell), the team captain who has never been told no. Jasmin Savoy Brown’s Taissa would rather break a teammate’s leg than lose a match. Sophie Thatcher’s Natalie arrives at the airport hungover and turns out to be the one who can hold a rifle. Sammi Hanratty’s Misty is the equipment manager nobody speaks to, and Steven Krueger’s Ben Scott, the assistant coach, is the only adult left alive and in no condition to be much use. Brian Kane’s production design gives them an abandoned cabin with one bed and a great deal of dust, and the writers are good on the small things: who gets the mattress, who is on her period, who has quietly been eating more than her share. The grown-ups are played by actors who are, scene for scene, better than the material. Melanie Lynskey’s Shauna catches a rabbit that has been at her vegetable patch, kills it, skins it at the kitchen sink and serves it to her husband Jeff (Warren Kole) as stew, all with the face of a woman deciding what to put on a shopping list. It is the best scene in the present-day strand. Tawny Cypress plays Taissa as a politician who has learned to smile through anything, and Christina Ricci’s Misty, now a nurse who bullies the elderly in a cheerful voice, is the funniest thing in the series by some distance. What they are given to do is a blackmail plot, some campaign trouble and an affair, plotted like a cheaper thriller: a postcard arrives, a car follows, someone is not who they say. The editors, Jeff Israel, Plummy Tucker and Kevin D. Ross among them, cut between the two periods on rhymes, a knife in 1996 answered by a knife in a kitchen drawer, and it carries us through the flatter stretches. Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker’s score, and the snarling guitar song under the opening titles, make the present feel haunted rather than merely dull. Most critics like it about as much as we do, and the complaints cluster where ours do. The mystery keeps adding questions and rarely answers one, and by the middle of the first season it has begun to hold back information for its own sake. The second season loses its footing in the back half; the third finds it again, with more of the psychology and less of the mysticism. We will not describe what happens to the girls past the first winter, except to say that the series takes its time and we did not mind. It is a 15 and it earns it: the crash, what has to be done about the coach’s leg, and that cold open are not for the squeamish. Start with the first season. If you find yourself skipping the suburbs to get back to the snow, you are not alone, and the show, to its credit, knows which half you came for. *Fi1m score 76, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics take to Yellowjackets, and the praise clusters on the cast and the mix of genres. Reviewers single out performances across both timelines, with Melanie Lynskey and Christina Ricci among the adults and Sophie Nélisse among the teenagers named most often. The blend of wilderness survival, high-school drama, horror and black comedy is judged to work far better than expected, and the 1990s setting and soundtrack draw regular approval. The reservations concern the mystery and the structure. Several reviews find the central question of what happened in the woods stalls rather than deepens, and there is no agreement on which timeline is weaker; some prefer the adults, others the teenagers. The Guardian is the outlier, finding the tonal shifts turbulent and the dual timeline frustrating. On later seasons, the second half of season two is said to disappoint before season three recovers, though slowly. The spread is narrow: nine positive, two mixed, none negative. ### Reviews we read (11) - **IndieWire**, Kristen Lopez (A-): The series is a fun, messy exploration of teen girls surviving a plane crash in the wilderness with dark secrets and possible cannibalism. The 1990s storyline stands out for its weirdness, strong performances from the young cast, and compelling mix of horror and drama. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/2021/11/yellowjackets-review-showtime-1234677231/) - **Variety**, Caroline Framke (85/100, inferred): The pitch-black survivalist drama blends teen tropes, horror, and psychological drama with confidence, grounded in physical and mental horrors of survival and elevated by an excellent cast including strong dual performances. It remains a compelling parable of human desperation even as the central mystery of the survivors' transformation stays unclear after several episodes. [Read](https://variety.com/2021/tv/reviews/yellowjackets-review-showtime-1235110979/) - **Radio Times**, Molly Moss (4/5): After a disappointing latter half of season 2, season 3 recaptures the magic of season 1 with shocking storylines, jump scares, unexpected twists, and better balance of supernatural elements tied to character psychology in both timelines. The terrific cast delivers darkly funny performances, particularly Lynskey and Ricci, making it exciting and gripping again. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/yellowjackets-season-3-review/) - **The Telegraph**, Anita Singh (4/5): This deliciously dark thriller blends Lord of the Flies survival horror with black comedy and genuine scares as a girls' soccer team descends into savagery after a plane crash. The 90s setting and strong cast make for gripping, unnerving viewing. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/12/02/yellowjackets-review-lord-flies-meets-alive-gripping-90s-themed/) - **Empire**, Leila Latif (75/100, inferred): Season 3 takes longer to get going than previous seasons but remains a transfixing watch thanks to its achingly cool soundtrack, grisly plot twists, and complicated women making deranged choices. Lovely character moments and standout performances, especially Sophie Nélisse as traumatized Shauna, increase affection for the cast amid the chaos. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/yellowjackets-season-3/) - **The Times**, Carol Midgley (★★★★☆): A surprising hit that mixes survival drama, high-school movie and gory horror in a way that works far better than expected. Excellent performances, especially from the adult cast in the present-day timeline, keep viewers hooked despite some weaker school scenes. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/yellowjackets-review-survival-drama-schlock-horror-christina-ricci-gxbmk20gp) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Angie Han (65/100, inferred): The series gets off to a killer start with vivid characters, gruesome shocks, and a sardonic sense of humor in its dual timelines of survival horror and present-day trauma. It becomes less clear what the show is trying to be about as the mystery stalls and plot choices rob characters of agency, though strong performances keep it watchable. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/yellowjackets-review-1235046142/) - **The Guardian** (50/100, inferred): The series is an ambitious but uneven genre mash-up hampered by tonal turbulence and a frustrating dual timeline that fails to fully develop its promising elements. It showcases strong performances from its 90s star cast but struggles with coherence and leaves too many threads dangling. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/nov/12/yellowjackets-review-gory-lord-of-flies-series-gets-lost-in-the-wilderness) - **Den of Geek**, Lacy Baugher (85/100, inferred): Yellowjackets is a surprising and underrated hit that blends Lord of the Flies, Lost, and horror with a strong 90s soundtrack and focus on complex teenage girls. It subverts expectations around female characters while delivering dread, mystery, and strong ensemble performances across dual timelines. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/yellowjackets-showtime-buzziest-new-drama/) - **Collider**, Carly Lane (B+): The critic praises the dual timelines and strong cast in both, noting the show's success in depicting survival minutiae and mysteries without one timeline overshadowing the other. They single out the realistic portrayal of the girls' experiences in the wilderness. [Read](https://collider.com/yellowjackets-tv-show-review-christina-ricci-melanie-lynskey/) - **Paste**, Lacy Baugher Milas (8.2): The series is lauded as original and compelling for its mix of genres and focus on female experiences in survival, with excellent casting. The critic notes some slow-burn issues and weaker present-day elements but overall finds it one of the season's most compelling new shows. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/yellowjackets/yellowjackets-review) ## Details - **Created by:** Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson - **Creator:** Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson - **Director:** Bart Nickerson, Eva Sørhaug, Benjamin Semanoff, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Anya Adams, Bille Woodruff, Jennifer Morrison, Karyn Kusama, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Liz Garbus, Deepa Mehta, Jonathan Lisco, Scott Winant, Eduardo Sánchez, Jamie Travis, Pete Chatmon, Ariel Kleiman - **Writer:** Ameni Rozsa, Sarah L. Thompson, Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Liz Phang, Julia Bicknell, Jonathan Lisco, Elise Brown, Rich Monahan, Katherine Kearns, Terry Wesley, Libby Hill, Emily St. James, Karen Joseph Adcock, Cameron Brett Johnson, Alisha Brophy, Chantelle M. Wells - **Cinematography:** Shasta Spahn, C. Kim Miles, Michael Wale, Trevor Forrest, François Dagenais, Julie Kirkwood, Corey Robson - **Editor:** Kevin D. Ross, Jeff Israel, Daniel Williams, Kindra Marra, Genevieve Butler, Damien Smith, Plummy Tucker - **Music:** Anna Waronker, Craig Wedren, Theodore Shapiro - **Production design:** Margot Ready, Brian Kane, Cat Smith - **Costume design:** Amy Parris, Caroline B. Marx, Marie Schley - **Producer:** Tayah Geist, Kathy Gilroy - **Cast:** Melanie Lynskey as Shauna Sadecki; Tawny Cypress as Taissa Turner; Ella Purnell as Jackie Taylor; Sophie Nélisse as Teen Shauna Shipman; Jasmin Savoy Brown as Teen Taissa Turner; Sophie Thatcher as Teen Natalie Scatorccio; Sammi Hanratty as Teen Misty Quigley; Steven Krueger as Ben Scott - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 14 November 2021 - **Genres:** Drama, Mystery - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axx9Qhct49w ## Where to watch in the US - Paramount+: streaming, hd - Netflix: streaming - Paramount+: free, hd - Amazon Prime Video: free, uhd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Hulu: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Apple TV: add-on, uhd - Apple TV: buy, sd - Amazon Prime Video: buy, uhd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, ES, FI, FR, GB, HU, IE, IT, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PT, RO, RS, SE, SK, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Lord of the Flies* (1963): Peter Brook’s schoolboys on an island, shot like a documentary and just as cruel. - *Picnic at Hanging Rock* (1975): Schoolgirls vanish into the Australian bush and the film declines to explain itself. - *Heavenly Creatures* (1994), Fi1m 84: A teenage Melanie Lynskey in a friendship that curdles into something worse. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/heavenly-creatures.md) - *Lost* (2004), Fi1m 93: The plane crash, the two timelines and the mystery box, for better and worse. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/raiders-of-the-lost-ark.md) - *Society of the Snow* (2023): The Andes crash survivors, told straight, with the hard decisions faced head on. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/yellowjackets