HBO is quelling our need for another season of Big Little Lies with a new miniseries. It took us about a minute and a half (the length of the teaser trailer) to know that we can’t miss it.
Murder, betrayal, and Nicole Kidman as a possible murder accomplice (but definite style icon) in New York’s Upper East Side? Say no more. The Undoing, starring Kidman and Hugh Grant, is the exact kind of suspenseful, psychological unraveling that we want in a show.
Living nothing short of a dream-like existence, the limited series follows Grace and Johnathan Fraser (Kidman and Grant) as Grace realizes her dream life is actually an unfolding nightmare following a violent death, creating a domino effect of horrific realizations. To make matters worse, Grace has failed to heed her own advice. As a therapist, she made a name for herself with her book in which she reprimands women for not trusting their intuition and ignoring their first impressions of men that may be signs of serious relationship trouble in the future.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
As the scandal becomes increasingly public, Grace must find a way to escape and create a new life for her family. It begs the question, if nothing is as it seems, who can she trust as she attempts to put her life back together?
“The great thing about the series — and what really drew me to it — is that it’s so twisty and nothing is as it seems,” said Kidman during a panel at the Television Critics Association. Showrunner David E. Kelley added, “This particular piece, the theme and the core of denial that these characters lived in and inhabited, drew me in...The propensity that they all had to draw false narratives about who they were, who their partners were, who people in their lives were, and giving rise to delusions that have a surprising tenacity.”
The Undoing is overflowing with talent both in front of and behind the camera. Adapted for television by Kelley, who also acted as showrunner for Big Little Lies, the six-part series is based on the novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz. It is directed by Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier (The Night Manager and Bird Box), who excels at creating psychological thrillers replete with uneasy suspense. Like Big Little Lies, Kidman is executive producing The Undoing.
The Undoing airs on HBO in May 2020.