Watch for Kirkus’ in-depth columns on Ripley, a Netflix limited series based on Patricia Highsmith’s classic thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley (premiering April 4), and The Sympathizer, an HBO miniseries based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel (premiering April 14). Meanwhile, here are four other book-to-screen adaptations coming in April:
April 5: Scoop (film premiere, Netflix)
This movie is based on the 2022 nonfiction book Scoops by Sam McAlister, a producer for the BBC Newsnight program. It portrays events leading up to one of the scoops she recounts: a 2019 TV interview that shocked viewers throughout the United Kingdom. Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis (played by the great Gillian Anderson) questioned Prince Andrew, the Duke of York (The Diplomat’s Rufus Sewell) about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; she also addressed allegations, which the prince denied, that he’d had sex with one of Epstein’s 17-year-old accusers. The film boasts an excellent cast, which also includes I Hate Suzie’s Billie Piper as McAlister, and its interview setup promises a tense watch.
April 5: Mary & George (miniseries premiere, Starz)
Benjamin Woolley’s 2018 nonfiction book, The King’s Assassin, provides the basis for this seven-episode series centered on the relationship between King James I of England and George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, who, as Kirkus’ reviewer put it, “became the king’s emotional, political, and sexual friend” in the early 1600s. It turned out to be a friendship that was surrounded by death and violence. The series, which has all the elements of an entertaining melodrama, stars the always reliable Julianne Moore as Mary Villiers, the Countess of Buckingham; Nicholas Galitzine (Red, White & Royal Blue) as George; and Your Honor’s Tony Curran as King James.
April 12: Franklin (miniseries premiere, Apple TV+)
In October 1776, Benjamin Franklin traveled to France as a commissioner—effectively an ambassador—for the fledgling United States. His primary mission: to lobby for aid for the American Revolution, then in progress. He was hugely successful at this endeavor, which may well have saved the U.S. from an early demise; the case can easily be made that the new country would have lost the Revolutionary War without French assistance. Apple TV+’s eight-episode miniseries focuses on this yearslong period in the Founding Father’s life and promisingly features Michael Douglas in the title role. It’s based on Stacy Schiff’s 2005 book, A Great Improvisation, which Kirkus’ reviewer called “a lively, well-written, and most timely study of diplomacy in action.”
April 17: Under the Bridge (miniseries premiere, Hulu)
This eight-episode miniseries is based on the Kirkus-starred 2005 true-crime book by Canadian author Rebecca Godfrey, who died in 2022. It’s an account of her investigation into the 1997 murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk by a group of teens in British Columbia. This adaptation was created by Quinn Shephard, who previously wrote and directed the excellent 2022 Hulu film Not Okay; it stars Riley Keough (Daisy Jones & The Six) as Godfrey and recent Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone as fictional police officer Cam Bentland. The trailer reveals a stark, brooding crime drama, and Gladstone’s presence alone is sure to draw interest from viewers who saw her brilliant, award-winning performance in the film Killers of the Flower Moon.
David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.
