I saw The Midwich Cuckoos: Village of the Damned (An Afterthought)

Sky Max's The Midwich Cuckoos (Village of the Damned) miniseries (as shown on AMC+) often reminded me more of Children of the Damned, the 1964 sequel to the 1960, film adaptation of John Wyndham's novel about strange, brainiac youngsters intent on taking over the bloody world. 

The children, with that sequel, as well as the latest, seven-chapter incarnation, are multiethnic (more varied in a sort of U.N. fashion), thus taking away the Hitler Youth/Aryan Race allegory, though keeping the anti-Immaculate Conception basis intact ... well, sort of. The Midwich Cuckoos series, like Children ..., downplays demonic/extraterrestrial intervention as a cause, though we all suspect there's something malignant at play in the worst otherworldly way. 

Keeping a bit of mystery in the fable works better for me, as opposed to the actual cause being confirmed, as in John Carpenter's 1995 remake, where Kirstie Alley shows Christopher Reeve the little, big-headed aliens that caused the whole, bratty scheme.

At any rate, I believe that writer David (Troy: Fall of a City/Hanna) Farr's Midwich series stuck close enough to the Wyndham's core, enough to be acceptable and appreciated by those who've enjoyed what's come before. Sure, the new version is padded (a criticism that some have expressed), but just like a novel that offers extended insight into causes and effects, this Midwich achieves just that (even bringing in some parental legality for realism's sake). If one were to grow weary of any of its interludes, one could easily enough fast-forward past them (or zone out during them) until another mentalist calamity should grab one's attention. 

Will there be more to this Midwich retelling? Considering that we didn't get the obligatory, brick-wall ending (even though we got a wee taste of such via a bus ride in the "finale"), I suppose we could and should be treated to it. There's definitely more to show and tell here, and if the children are shown getting older, smarter ... deadlier, all the more reason to extrapolate their we-know-what's-best-for-you control. On the other hand, Samuel West's character, Bernard Westcott, offers a backstory yet to be explored. A prequel, in this respect, could perform just as well, maybe even better than a leap forward.