The Handmaid’s Tale is one of the world’s most beloved dystopian novels, and one of the few classic examples written from the prospective of a woman. Even though we got a so-so film adaptation of the book in 1990, Hulu is releasing a new series based on the work that delves deeper into the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJTonrzXTJs
For those unfamiliar with the work, the book looks at the life of Offred, a handmaid in Gilead, whose duty it is to bear children for important higher ups whose wives are barren due to a massive shift in the environment. There was a huge political coupe which led to the total subjugation of women and the end of democracy in favor of a totalitarian ruling class. However, resistance fighters are gearing up to take over, which Offred gets mixed up in mostly by pure chance.
The show has some big names for its leads: Elisabeth Moss as Offred, Alexis Bledel as her handmaid companion Ofglen, Samira Wiley as Offred’s old friend Moira, and Joseph Fiennes as the Commander, the man Offred is ordered to serve. It has been a while since I’ve read the book, but I do have to say that it looks like they’re going to expand a bit of the source material, revealing Offred’s original name, her life prior to the rise of Gilead, and more information on what happens to Ofglen and Moira. The aesthetic of the show really highlights the drab and dark nature of the show, with dark settings, stark settings, and stellar costuming choices that really tips off how wrong things are by its uniformity and plainness.
Not surprisingly, many of the comments on the trailer accuse the show of being an attack against U.S. President Trump, even though the original source material was written in 1985, and as far as one can tell from the trailer, it sticks to the imagery of the book pretty thoroughly.
The Handmaid’s Tale will be available on Hulu on April 26, 2017.
