“When I was a little girl, I imagined that I could grow smaller. So small that the bad things couldn’t find me, and I could disappear,” says Florence Pugh in the new teaser trailer for Netflix’s East of Eden.
In the fresh interpretation of John Steinbeck‘s 1952 novel, Pugh plays Cathy Ames, whose life is intertwined with the lives of generations of men from the Trask family, notably those of Adam (Christopher Abbott) and Charles (Mike Faist), as the characters live out the darker side of the California dream.
The series spans decades in the life of Cathy and the Trask family; over the years their paths intersect with people like Samuel Hamilton (Ciarán Hinds), an Irishman who made his way to California where he raised a family and got to know the land, and Lee (Hoon Lee), a Chinese American whose intellect is surpassed only by his ability to give care to those who need it most, and Faye (Martha Plimpton), a brothel owner whose open heart might lead to her downfall.
The choice between good and evil is at the heart of Zoe Kazan‘s adaptation of the ambitious novel. The seven-episode limited series, written and produced by Kazan, offers a compelling perspective on how a family’s history can impact an individual’s present reality.
Kazan told Netflix that “bringing the family saga to life” was a resonant experience for her, but above all, it was “Steinbeck’s writing – personal, shocking, profound, and free – that has kept me enthralled by East of Eden since I first read the book as a young teen.”
The series serves as a portrait of one family, but also of a rapidly changing society where men and women must navigate difficult decisions, and come face-to-face with the reality that, ultimately, you are what you choose.
Director Garth Davis (Lion) helmed Episodes 1-4, with Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (The Mustang) directing episodes 5-7. Jeb Stuart is serving as executive producer and co-showrunner alongside Kazan.
East of Eden is set to release on Netflix globally this Autumn.
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