How ‘Lord of the Flies’ Proves Lox Pratt Is Perfect as ‘Harry Potter’s New Draco Malfoy

Lox Pratt is new on the entertainment scene, and already he’s nabbed two major villainous turns on the small screen. Right now, he stars in the new-to-Netflix series adaptation of Lord of the Flies as Jack, the primary antagonist of the show, and soon, he’ll be seen in HBO Max’s Harry Potter series as Draco Malfoy.

If there was ever any doubt that the young actor is perfect for the latter part, well, the former turn more than proves his mettle at playing complicated young foes.

In the Lord of the Flies series, which is mostly faithful in its adaptation of the William Golding classic of the same name, his Jack begins on bad footing with the series’ lead, Ralph (Winston Sawyers). As the de facto leader of the choir boys, he steps forward as a potential candidate to lead all of the young plane crash survivors but is incensed to find out he doesn’t have the votes against Ralph, who’s rounded up most of the others with his trusty conch and sidekick Piggy (David McKenna). As a sort of consolation prize, though, Jack is named leader of the hunters by Ralph and takes that role very, very seriously.

Throughout the four-episode run, we see Jack becoming obsessed with power and brutality, marking his face with blood and writhing in ecstasy over his kills. At the same time, though, we also see glimpses of vulnerability and complexity that don’t exist in the novel version of the character; a flashback sequence reveals that, much like Draco, he has a father with strict expectations for him, and he struggles to live up to them. Plus, when he and Ralph are alone, there is significantly less animosity between them and more communing over their respective leadership responsibilities — even until the bitter end.

Thanks to Pratt’s performance, Jack appears to be struggling with his own conscience even in his worst moments, has fears that he doesn’t want to surrender to, and simply cannot accept blame for even the slightest of failures because of his deeper insecurities.

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Perhaps most poignant is the moment at the very end of the series when the boys are unexpectedly rescued by a British Navy man who seems horrified at the sight of their “fun and games” … and the news that two boys have been killed in the process of their little “war.” As Ralph explains the circumstances as best as his state of shock — and the adrenaline of outrunning the others, who mean him grave harm until that very moment — will allow, Jack is in a state of suspension. He is silent when asked who’s the leader, despite fighting so viciously for that honor, and he doesn’t move along with the other boys when it’s time for the rescuers to ferry them to their ship offshore. His stunned facial expression in this moment can be read a thousand different ways: Is he ashamed? Is he relieved? Is he devastated to leave his hideous little kingdom? We don’t know. And the ambiguity of that moment is so much more powerful than if we did.

That nuance makes him so much more than some sniveling slaughterer, and presenting Draco in a literarily accurate light will require the same. It will take subtlety to pull off Draco Malfoy, who similarly wars with himself over his inherited impulse to do evil and its impacts on the protagonist, and, clearly, Lox Pratt can handle it.

Lord of the Flies, Streaming Now, Netflix

Harry Potter, Series Premiere, December 25, HBO Max