SPLICED FEATURE /
TEN TV SHOWS YOU SHOULD BE WATCHING
ISSUE 05
Bates Motel
Genre / Mystery thriller
Cast / Freddie Highmore / Vera Farmiga
Max Thierot / Nestor Carbonell
Creator / Anthony Cipriano
What is it about?
Bates Motel is set as a prequel to the Alfred
Hitchcock thriller Psycho, in which Norman
Bates runs the Bates Motel under the influence
of his overbearing mother. Bates Motel takes us
right back to the very beginning, giving us flyon-the-wall access into the making of a psycho.
We follow Norman through his teenage years
and discover how intricate and complex his
relationship with his mother is and how it affects
every aspect of Norman’s eventual adult life.
Why watch it?
British-born Highmore is the star of the show.
With movies like Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory and August Rush under his belt,
Highmore tackles one of his most complex
characters in recent history. His performance
along with that of Vera Farmiga’s (The
Conjuring, The Departed), who plays Norman’s
controlling and moody mother Norma, will keep
you on the edge of your seat as things start to
unwind and we find out the dark secret Norma is
trying to keep from her son and the world. One
thing is for sure, the small town they set up shop
in is never the same after the Bates’s arrival.
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