Developed by Neil Cross and Tom Bissell based on the book of the same name by Paul Theroux, “The Mosquito Coast” is a drama television series starring Justin Theroux, who is also the executive producer, Melissa George, Logan Polish and follows an idealist who uproots his family and moves them to Latin America that first broadcast on Friday, April 30, 2021, on Apple TV+.
Adapted from the best-selling novel, “The Mosquito Coast” is a gripping adventure and layered character drama following the dangerous journey of a radical idealist and brilliant inventor, Allie Fox (Justin Theroux), who uproots his family for Mexico when they suddenly find themselves on the run from the US government.
The show re-imagines the contemporary, mini-van driving family as anti-capitalists whose American dream is that of escape. After six different identities over nine years, the Foxes live off the grid, collecting food grease for fuel, home-schooling their kids, and hiding from the authority figures that they do not trust. Their home is a happy alternative California existence of calm blues and sunny yellows, so long as the outside world doesn’t provide cracks, like with daughter Dina’s development of a relationship with a boy that goes against the rules: no cell phones, no traces.
The father, Justin Theroux’s Allie Fox, is a brilliant mind who has created a machine that turns fire into ice, a process shown to us in a snazzy inside-the-machine sequence that introduces other swooping shots from initial director Rupert Wyatt. But because no one wants to invest that product, and he has to remain anonymous, he does custodial work at a food factory where his boss drives a tacky convertible, and barely pays him. The house is in foreclosure, according to some mail Allie tries to hide from his family. As much as Allie has tried to live his life serving no master but his ego, it’s ending soon. And then the cops show up.