From the get-go, "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" makes it clear that the new installment of J.K. Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts" franchise will be gloomier and heavier than the first film, a playful romp set in New York during the age of jazz.
Katherine Waterston, who returns to her role as Auror and gumshoe Tina Goldstein, acknowledges that the darker themes are relevant to the current state of the world.
"We're in a time where we're totally bewildered by things that are happening and very desperate to understand what motivates people and to relate to ways of thinking that may be very disturbing for many of us," Waterston tells The Japan Times. "I think this film really shows us how we can be seduced and manipulated by people in power."