With The Everrealm Tournament, Disney+ is launching a new kind of reality show. In this unlikely program, American teenagers go on a quest in a fully scripted fantasy world. A visually convincing epic, but which turns out to be disappointing.
On paper, The Everrealm Tournament had everything to please. Take a hint of Koh Lantaa big pinch of the series MythicQuest and a good dose of Fort Boyard. Add obvious references to the Lord of the Ringsto the Books where you are the hero or to Chronicles of Narnia. Well done, you just made The Everrealm Tournamentavailable on Disney+ since May 11, 2022!
The concept of this program, very original and a bit crazy, surprises as much as it makes you smile. Eight real American teenagers are thus propelled into a fantasy world called Everrealm. While the kingdom had been at peace for decades, the witch Tavora comes to upset this fragile balance of her black magic. To stop him, the eight candidates, renamed Paladins for the occasion, will have to face a series of trials to let the true hero of the tournament emerge.
Successful special effects
Between reality TV and scripted fantasy epic, The Everrealm Tournament surprises at first sight. The actors of the series, all rather convincing, mingle from the first episode with teenagers, fans of imaginary universes. Recruited after a casting of several months, David, Serean, Toshani, Holden, Caden, Ava, Myra and Shaan live an improbable adventure for eight episodes.
But the distinction between fiction and authentic candidate reactions quickly becomes blurred. You never know if you’re watching a reality show in a scripted setting, a kind of parody whose winners are already chosen in advance or an entertainment halfway between the two. A mix of genres probably deliberate on the part of the production teams, but which prevents total immersion in this mythical quest.
However, the special effects and the real sets of the series are very successful. The few creatures that inhabit the adventure benefit from high quality makeup and costumes, almost worthy of a big Hollywood creation. I have to say that The Everrealm Tournament is produced, among others, by Court Five (the films The Lord of the Rings), and New Media Collective (The Amazing Raceavailable in France with Beijing Express).
A lack of immersion
The series never manages to get us totally involved in its unusual starting premise. No aspect of the tournament is sufficiently advanced for us to be really interested in it: the narrative stakes are far from revolutionary, the tests are sometimes confusing and we don’t know the eight teenagers well enough to get attached to them.
Their lives IRL or their centers of interest are thus never detailed. Of course, the candidates being minors, it is difficult to produce the same content as with adults. But when you’re used to more classic reality shows, you have to admit that The Everrealm Tournament clearly lacking dramas and confessions in front of the camera.
By promising castles, crowns and magic, the series is thus far from being revolutionary. It remains relatively difficult to be passionate about this fight between good and evil, whose contours are too smooth to catch our attention. The first episode already promised a wobbly immersion, with a long introduction of about twenty minutes before the candidates really come into play. And the music, excessively epic, fails to catch up with tests worthy of the worst proposals of Fort Boyard.
In short, you can go your way and return to your weekly viewing of Koh Lanta.
The Disney+ subscription starts at €8.99 per month.
The verdict
We liked
Successful special effects
The actors, very well chosen
An original and slightly crazy concept
We liked less
Flat or incomprehensible proofs
A strange mix between fiction and reality
An impossible identification with the characters
In an imaginary fantasy world, eight teenagers must fight evil and restore peace to Everrealm. For the first time, Disney+ is launching a program mixing fantasy fiction and reality TV. But the magic only works for a while and the series absolutely does not meet the expectations that we had placed in it. Despite an amazing concept and magical special effects, the immersion is clearly not there.
The Everrealm Tournament had everything to please, by borrowing as much from the Lord of the Rings what to Strong boyar. But we must admit that it is difficult to finish the eight episodes of this first season, too wise to convince its spectators.
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