Yaga Review: Witchy Coastal Town Mystery with Hudson Williams is Spooky, Sexy, and Wildly Atmospheric
TIFF two-episode premiere: The Heated Rivalry star is joined by Noah Reid and Carrie-Anne Moss in this slick genre-bending update of the Baba Yaga myth
by Alex Kaan 19 September 2026
Sky
It’s a landmark year for coastal small-town genre television. Between the Emmy sweep of horror comedy Widow’s Bay and Netflix’s upcoming sea monster series Below, the desire to see a quaint seaside village uprooted by sinister forces appears to be at an all-time high. And like Below, Kat Sandler’s adaptation of her award-winning 2019 play is another Canadian series ready to scratch that itch. Blending elements of supernatural horror, police procedural, and erotic thriller with a sharp sense of humour, Yaga delivers lurid thrills and all the makings of the next addictive small-town mystery.
Reimagining the Slavic folk tale of Baba Yaga, the eight-episode series follows Rapp (Noah Reid of Schitt’s Creek and The Vampire Lestat), a private eye who travels to Whittock to investigate the disappearance of Henry Park (Hudson Williams in his first part since his breakout role in international sensation Heated Rivalry), the heir to a billion-dollar commercial fishery. Once there, he teams up with Carson (The Changeling star Clark Backo), a local detective whose by-the-book methods sharply contrast his own.
Sky
Rapp and Carson begin interrogating the persons of interest, including Katherine (The Matrix’s Carrie-Anne Moss), an alluring university professor with a taste for younger men, and Pam (Ezra Franky, Untamed), Herny’s ex who broke up with him just the week prior. But as the investigation becomes marked with increasingly strange occurrences — like a burned rooster pinned to Rapp’s motel door — the pair soon find themselves reckoning with buried secrets and ancient magic.
As a moody detective series, there’s a welcome element of Twin Peaks pastiche at play, while Yaga also recalls the first Twilight film with both its icy cinematography and melodramatic flair. Sandler leans into the camp elements, such as having Williams play two characters who aren’t twins and slapping some acne and glasses on him to distinguish Henry from his friend Logan. The show walks a tricky tonal tightrope and could easily err on the wrong side of salacious television, but it manages to hold all its strands together with a knowing, playful style of comedy.
Sky
As an obnoxious serial flirt of a private eye and an uptight police detective, Noah Reid and Clark Backo develop a crackling chemistry in the buddy cop dynamic that drives the show, while Carrie-Anne Moss captivates as the slinky, mysterious professor. And despite only appearing briefly in the two episodes screened at TIFF as one of his two characters, Hudson Williams impresses with a magnetic presence and burgeoning movie-star charisma, skilfully committing to the series’ heightened, often comedic tone in a stark departure from his more subdued Heated Rivalry role.
Steeped in atmosphere, eroticism, and humour, Yaga is a gripping, stylish mystery with a strong ensemble that nails the genre-bending tone.
The first two episodes of Yaga premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The series is streaming from October 23rd on AMC+ in the US and from October on Sky from in the UK.