There’s nothing like a book adaptation to fill me with joy as it offers a fresh take on its source material. And when it comes to Naomi Alderman’s bestselling novel The Power, joy is at an all-time high with Prime Video’s upcoming nine-part series.
Today, Prime Video debuted the teaser trailer for upcoming series The Power. The emotionally driven global thriller from SISTER (Chernobyl) is based on British author Naomi Alderman’s award-winning novel, and will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on Friday, March 31st with new episodes available each Friday, leading up to the season finale on May 12th.
In the show, The Power is our world, but for one twist of nature. Suddenly, and without warning, teenage girls develop the power to electrocute people at will. The series features a cast of remarkable characters from London to Seattle, Nigeria to Eastern Europe, as the Power evolves from a tingle in teenagers’ collarbones to a complete reversal of the power balance of the world.
As seen in the trailer above, it focuses mainly on Toni Collette’s Margot as she tracks the sudden emergence and development of the power, and her eventual rise to political success. We also see of various women whose stories we will follow throughout the series with sparks of a possible revolution. But first, they’re enjoying their new power.
As for the book, it was first published in 2016 and is a thrilling science-fiction tale of feminism and class, which means it’ll probably banned in Florida.
In the novel, the plot focuses on a rewritten history in which the sudden ability blooms in women that allows them to electrocute people by touch. With this new power comes a reimagining of how the world develops, and the novel takes place around five thousand years after the fact, where society has turned into a matriarchy.
The story follows the lives of five specific characters; Allie, a young woman who uses her powers to kill her abusive foster father, Roxy, the daughter of a London mob boss who seeks revenge for her mother’s murderers, Margot, a politician and advocate for the training of women’s powers, Jocelyn, Margot’s daughter, and Tunde, a male journalist who travels across the globe to document the power.
Looking at the trailer, the show might closely follow the novel. Afterall, Alderman herself is credited as having penned two of the episodes and is also backed by a female-driven writing team. Plus, there’s an array of female directors working on the show.
The series version will feature critically acclaimed actress Toni Collette as Margot in the new series. Alongside her, Halle Bush, Ria Zmitrowicz, and Auli’i Cravalho will be appearing as Allie, Roxy, and Jos respectively.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Collette sees Margot as “a realistic idealist,” she says. “She’s got her feet firmly planted on the ground, but why not be that person who fights for everyone?” She is one of a handful of anchor characters in the series, the plot of which sprawls across the planet.
The series will also star John Leguizamo (whose career is having a delightful resurgence) as Margot’s supportive husband Rob, Josh Charles as the macho governor of Washington (the kind of guy who tells Margot not to get her “panties all in a bunch”), and Ted Lasso’s Toheeb Jimoh as Tunde, an aspiring journalist from Nigeria who spreads news of teen girls rising up through his viral videos. He travels around the world and witnesses’ scenes of uprisings by women.
The Power will be available to stream on Prime Video from 31st March.
