Nicole Kidman Leads New Murder Thriller Scarpetta
A crime murder mystery thriller, starring Nicole Kidman, based on a hit book series, is definitely a recipe to get excited for, if Kidman’s past TV work is anything to go by. Scarpetta sees the Oscar-winning star play a brilliant forensic pathologist who will pursue justice and help solve perplexing crimes no matter what the cost. The story jumps back and forth between the present and her past and her beginnings as a medical examiner. Also starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Ariana DeBose, it’s now available to watch on Amazon Prime.
Who, or what, is Scarpetta?
Kidman’s new series is based on the popular crime books of the same name, which date all the way back to 1990 in the novel Postmortem. An adaptation has been a long time coming, with names from Demi Moore to Angelina Jolie attached over decades before Amazon finally greenlit a series, with Kidman and Curtis producing. Like the novels, it follows the extremely intelligent and highly regarded medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, who has built a reputation for brilliance. In the present day, she travels back to her hometown for the first time in years and sets her sights on solving a gruesome murder case that’s the talk of the town.
What happened in Kay’s past?
We also flashback to the late 1990s, where the young Kay is just starting out in her career as a medical examiner, and is about to crack a case that will make her name. This younger incarnation that we meet is played by actress Rose McEwen (Black Mirror), who is less self-assured but no less brilliant. Kay also contends with the difficult relationship she has with her sister Dorothy (played at different ages by Jamie Lee Curtis and Amanda Righetti), along with long-held grudges and uncovered secrets. It soon becomes apparent, however, that Kay’s early work in the 1990s and the murder she’s investigating in the present are connected, as she fears that the case that may get her name may also be her undoing.
What else is there to know, and when can I watch?
Prime’s series will consist of eight episodes chronicling the older and younger Kay’s investigations, and also counts another Oscar winner, Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), among its cast, alongside Kidman’s Nine Perfect Strangers co-star Bobby Cannavale. The show is now available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
