“I was asleep before. That’s how we let it happen,” says Offred (Elisabeth Moss) in a powerful — and disturbingly timely — new trailer for “The Handmaid’s Tale.” “When they slaughtered Congress we didn’t wake up. When they blamed terrorists and suspended the Constitution we didn’t wake up then, either. Now I’m awake.” Based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Atwood, the series is set in Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly part of the U.S. While the book was published in 1985, its storyline and themes about a horrifying government and women’s reproductive rights being taken away remain all too relevant today.
“Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred is a Handmaid in the Commander’s household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world,” the show’s official synopsis details. “In this terrifying society where one wrong word could end her life, Offred navigates between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids — where anyone could be a spy for Gilead — all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her.”
“You girls will serve the leaders and their barren wives. You will bear children for them,” Offred and the other Handmaids are informed.
When the man who rules the household Offred lives in tells her, “We only wanted to make the world better,” she is incredulous, and asks, “Better?” “Better never means better for everyone,” he says. Yep, Gilead is a patriarchal hellhole, and the trailer does a beautiful job of establishing this fact.
Golden Globe winner Moss is supported by a cast that includes Samira Wiley (“Orange Is the New Black”), Alexis Bledel (“Gilmore Girls”), Joseph Fiennes (“Shakespeare in Love”), and Yvonne Strahovski (“Dexter”).
“The Handmaid’s Tale” isn’t the only high-profile Atwood adaptation in the works. Anna Paquin (“True Blood”) and Sarah Gadon (“Belle”) are set to star in Netflix’s adaptation of Atwood’s “Alias Grace,” a drama inspired by the true story of convicted murderer Grace Marks (Gadon), a young Irish immigrant and domestic servant living in Upper Canada. The miniseries is written and produced by Sarah Polley (“Stories We Tell”) and directed by Mary Harron (“American Psycho”). The project will debut sometime in 2017.
“High-Rise,” “Truth,” and “Meadowland” are among Moss’ recent credits. The “Mad Men” alumna will reprise her role as detective Robin Griffin for Season 2 of “Top of the Lake,” also due sometime this year. This season of the feminist murder mystery series, co-created by Jane Campion (“The Piano”), will feature Nicole Kidman and “Game of Thrones’” Gwendoline Christie.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” hits Hulu April 26. Reed Morano (“Meadlowland”) helmed the first three episodes of the 10-episode drama.
