For those looking to fill the Dept. Q-shaped whodunnit hole in their life, Netflix has come up trumps, once again, with yet another murder mystery: The Survivors.
The Survivors, which launched on the platform on June 6, stars Charlie Vickers as Kieran Elliott and Bridgerton's newest darling Yerin Ha as Mia Chang, a young couple who are haunted by ghosts of their past when they return to their childhood hometown to be with Kieran’s ailing father and emotionally distant mother, per Netflix.
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The limited six-episode series, which is based on the bestselling Jane Harper novel of the same name, boasts all of the elements of a winning murder mystery with a brooding, simmering tension throughout and a moody, murderous setting, not dissimilar from its Dept. Q predecessor. Needless to say, it's the murder mystery we all ought to be bookmarking and binging. This is everything you need to know about The Survivors.
What is The Survivors about?
Set in the fittingly sleepy seaside town Evelyn Bay in Tasmania, The Survivors tells the story of Kieran (Vickers) and Mia (Ha) as they return to their emotionally fraught hometown.
'Kieran Elliott’s life changed forever when two people drowned and a young girl went missing in his hometown of Evelyn Bay,' per Netflix. 'Fifteen years later, returning with his young family, the guilt that still haunts him resurfaces. When the body of a young woman is found on the beach, the town is once again rocked by tragedy and the investigation of her death threatens to reveal long-held secrets, the truth about the missing girl, and a killer among them.'
'It's a family melodrama disguised as a murder mystery,' the series' showrunner Tony Ayres said of the series. 'Because the things that are really at its heart are things like a son wanting his mother’s love and the mother who just cannot afford to give it because her whole world might fall apart.'
Who stars in The Survivors?
Alongside Elliott and Ha, The Survivors also stars Robyn Malcolm, Damien Garvey and Apple Cider Vinegar's Thom Green and Julian Weeks.
The full cast is below:
- Charlie Vickers (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Medici) is Kieran Elliott.
- Yerin Ha (Bridgerton, Halo) is Mia Chang.
- Robyn Malcolm (Heartbreak High, Sweet Tooth) is Verity Elliott.
- Damien Garvey (Nautilus, The Artful Dodger) is Brian Elliott.
- Thom Green (Apple Cider Vinegar, Ladies in Black) is Sean Gilroy.
- George Mason (Black Snow, The Power of the Dog) is Ash Carter.
- Jessica De Gouw (The Union, The Crown) is Olivia Birch.
- Miriama Smith (Darby and Joan, The Gone) is Detective Senior Sergeant Sue Pendlebury.
- Johnny Carr (Strange Creatures, Five Bedrooms) is Detective Alex Dan.
- Martin Sacks (Irreverent, Ocean Boy) is Julian Gilroy.
- Julian Weeks (Apple Cider Vinegar, Prosper) is Liam Gilroy.
- Shannon Berry (Fake, The Wilds) is Bronte Laidler.
- Catherine McClements (Apple Cider Vinegar, Pieces of Her) is Trish Birch.
- Don Hany (Neighbours, My Life Is Murder) is George Barlin.
Where was The Survivors filmed?
The series was filmed throughout the Australian state of Tasmania, and is set in the fictional town of Evelyn Bay, where the book takes place. However, as Ayres stressed in an interview with Netflix, 'Evelyn Bay doesn’t actually exist. Jane [Harper] made it up out of a number of different places.'
The Survivors was filmed in an area of Tasmania called Eaglehawk Neck, which Ayres noted has 'such a gothic landscape. It’s cliffs and sea caves and this pounding ocean. It really is so spectacular.'
Will there be a season two of The Survivors?
Netflix has not yet greenlit another season, but given the precedent set by previous the streaming service with its other limited series that it's ended up commissioning second seasons of, including Nobody Wants This and Squid Game, there's still plenty of time for a second outing of The Survivors.
The Survivors is available to stream on Netflix now.
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Naomi May is a seasoned culture journalist and editor with over ten years’ worth of experience in shaping stories and building digital communities. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard, where she worked across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Digital Editor at ELLE Magazine and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others. Naomi is also the host of the ELLE Collective book club.
