TV

‘Alias Grace’ Trailer: Mary Harron and Margret Atwood Do Murder

Netflix gets into the Margaret Atwood game.
By  · Published on September 11th, 2017

Netflix gets into the Margaret Atwood game.

Margaret Atwood novels are continuing to be adapted at a rapid pace. Netflix has released the first trailer for their adaptation of Atwood’s Alias Grace. As you might remember this isn’t the first of Atwood’s novels to be adapted for the small screen. The Handmaid’s Tale is currently running at Hulu and has its share of Emmy nominations. There was even some talk of another of Atwood’s series, The MaddAddam trilogy, being worked on for HBO, but it has seemed to have stalled out for now. Nevertheless, Atwood novels are a hot commodity right now and Alias Grace certainly has all the right tools to make it a great success.

Atwood’s story chronicles the 1843 murders of Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper. Kinnear will be played by Paul Gross, while his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery will be played by Anna Paquin. The major players are the duo who have been charged with the crime of killing their employer, Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon) and James McDermott (Kerr Logan). While the novel is based on factual events, Atwood constructed a new character in the form of doctor Simon Gordon (Edward Holcroft) who becomes very interested in the mind and motives of Grace Marks.

Outside the contributions for Atwood on the novel, there are other reasons to get excited about this Netflix mini-series. It is going to be directed by Mary Harron (American Psycho) and written by Sarah Polley (Stories We Tell). If that isn’t an exciting trio of creators then I don’t know what is. Everyone is familiar with American Psycho starring Christian Bale, but fewer may not know about the contributions of Sarah Polley. She is a very exciting screenwriter and director who has many successes including the highly regarded documentary Stories We Tell. There is little doubt that Alias Grace will be a show on everyone’s radar with this talent involved.

Not only will Alias Grace appeal to those who are patiently waiting on season 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale, but it should also be on the radar of those who like a good murder mystery. We will soon know how it is shaping up since the series is premiering its first two episodes at the Toronto International Film Festival. Alias Grace looks like an exciting journey into the mind of a convicted killer and should make plenty of fans when it launches on Netflix on November 3rd.

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