The Umbrella Academy (2019) Review: Superpowered Dysfunction

Is The Umbrella Academy worth watching?

Yes. The Umbrella Academy is a wildly entertaining superhero series that is really about a broken family, and its oddball siblings are some of the most likeable misfits on streaming. The show’s energy, dark humour and inventive soundtrack-driven action make it an easy binge. The reservation is that its time-travel plotting grows increasingly convoluted, and the shorter final season does not match the high points of the first three.

What is The Umbrella Academy about?

On a single day in 1989, dozens of women around the world gave birth unexpectedly, to children none of them had been pregnant with that morning. An eccentric billionaire, Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), adopted seven of them and raised them as a team of child superheroes. Years later, the estranged adults reunite for his funeral: the dutiful Luther (Tom Hopper), the hot-headed Diego (David Castañeda), the famous Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), the chaotic Klaus (Robert Sheehan), the overlooked violinist of the family (Elliot Page), and Five (Aidan Gallagher), who returns from the future with news of an approaching apocalypse. Justin H. Min and Ritu Arya round out the core cast.

The Umbrella Academy was created for television by Steve Blackman, adapting the comic books by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá. It is an American series in English, made for Netflix. This review covers the complete show: four seasons and 36 episodes released between 2019 and 2024, and the story has ended.

A dysfunctional family first

The superpowers are almost beside the point. What makes the series work is that the siblings are recognisably damaged by a cold, controlling upbringing, and each of them carries a distinct grudge, insecurity or addiction into adulthood. The show finds endless comedy in them bickering while the world ends, but also real tenderness when they manage to act like a family. Their father, played with icy precision by Colm Feore, casts a long shadow over every season.

The time-travel premise gives each season a fresh setting and new stakes, and the writers use it to drop the siblings into unfamiliar eras and situations. That keeps the show from feeling stale, and it gives the ensemble new ways to clash.

Aidan Gallagher and Robert Sheehan steal scenes

The whole cast is strong, but two performances stand out. Aidan Gallagher plays Five as an elderly, weary assassin trapped in a teenage body, delivering sardonic lines with a deadpan authority far beyond his years. It is a tricky role, and he makes it one of the show’s great pleasures. Robert Sheehan’s Klaus, meanwhile, is a riot of flamboyance, vulnerability and bad decisions, and he often gives the series its heart as well as its biggest laughs.

The music deserves special mention. The series is famous for set pieces cut to unexpected pop songs, from a family dance in the first episode to fight sequences that play like music videos. Those moments give the show a distinctive, playful identity.

Where the timelines tangle

As the seasons go on, the plotting becomes increasingly complicated, with alternate timelines, doubles and cosmic rules that can be hard to keep straight. Some storylines, particularly the romantic ones, feel like diversions from the main event. The final season, only six episodes long, is the weakest: it has intriguing ideas but rushes its conclusion and leaves several characters with less to do than they deserve. It is a disappointing landing for a show that had been so consistently lively.

Who should watch The Umbrella Academy?

It is ideal for viewers who like superhero stories with a subversive edge, fans of comic-book adaptations, and anyone who enjoys ensemble comedy-drama about difficult families. Four seasons and 36 episodes make it a substantial but achievable binge. Expect bloody violence, strong language, drug use and some sexual content; it is aimed at adults and older teens.

If you enjoy it, try these next:

• The Sandman, another Netflix adaptation of a cult comic, darker and more mythic in tone.
• Sweet Tooth, a gentler comic-book series about unusual children and the end of the world as they know it.

The verdict

The Umbrella Academy is a funny, stylish and surprisingly moving superhero series built around a family that cannot stop fighting. Its time-travel plots eventually tie themselves in knots and the final season disappoints, but the characters, performances and sheer verve make it one of Netflix’s most enjoyable genre shows.

Rating: 4.5/5