Bates Motel
Bates Motel
"Bates Motel" is a contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film "Psycho," and gives a portrayal of how Norman Bates' (Freddie Highmore) psyche unravels through his teenage years. Fans discover the dark, twisted backstory of Norman Bates and how deeply intricate his relationship with his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), truly is.
Callum reviewedDecember 11, 2024
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5) Bates Motel – Behind every monster is a mother who loved too much, and a world that looked away.
“Bates Motel” reimagines Hitchcock’s Psycho for a modern audience — not as a slasher tale, but as a slow, unsettling study of how innocence curdles into obsession. Freddie Highmore gives us a Norman Bates who is fragile, bright, and heartbreakingly doomed, while Vera Farmiga’s Norma is both fiercely protective and quietly terrifying. Their performances are the dark heart of the series — equal parts love story and psychological warfare.
The show paints a disturbing yet strangely human portrait of descent, beginning with moments of optimism and tenderness before letting reality and mental illness tighten the net. What makes it work is that it’s never purely bleak — even in its most disturbing moments, there’s warmth, humour, and flickers of hope that make the tragedy hit harder when it finally unravels.
Over five seasons, Bates Motel stretches its premise a little thin — it’s a long road to a two-hour destination — but it uses that time to build empathy for characters who, by all rights, should only inspire fear. It’s a study in inevitability: we know where Norman ends up, but we still want him to find a way out.
Elegant, unnerving, and quietly tragic, Bates Motel earns its place among the greats of psychological drama. It’s not just a prequel — it’s a requiem for innocence, played one haunting note at a time.