We are in the midst of a cultural Margaret Atwoodaissance as people continue to adapt her works for the small screen. We’ve already gotten Hulu’s Handmaid’s Tale and there’s still Darren Aronofsky’s MaddAddam script lying around looking for a home. And now on November 3 Netflix will premiere Alias Grace, the Sarah Polley-produced adaptation of Atwood’s 1996 novel of the same name. The book is also something Polley has wanted to adapt for nearly 20 years, having fallen in love with it as a teenager.
The book is loosely based on the story of Grace Marks, a maid who was convicted of murdering her employers in 1843 when she was just a teenager and sentenced to life in prison. Atwood’s book invents a fictional young doctor who becomes increasingly interested in Marks’ case, perhaps a little too interested. He tries to help her recover the lost memories Marks has of the day she allegedly killed her abusive employers.
We got a teaser for the show a few months ago but the new trailer looks downright spooky, complete with a lot of whispery ghost voices that may or may not be taunting Marks.
DISCUSSION
Can we have ‘The Blind Assassin’ next?
And can we please also have a ‘The Robber Bride’ film that doesn’t make the story all about a square jawed male detective trying to save his male friend who Zenia has set up to be framed for her supposed murder, and Toni, Charis and Ros are relegated to supporting characters the detective finds and interviews in his investigation? Because that would be nice.