Set in late 19th century Victorian England, The Essex Serpent arrives with a stellar cast – MCU star Tom Hiddleston, Claire Danes, Frank Dillane, Clémence Poésy and Hayley Squires. Directed by Clio Barnard, “The Essex Serpent” is an upcoming TV series based on the novel with similar title by Sarah Perry. Today Apple TV+ dropped the trailer- featuring a widow, a village vicar and a mythical beast.
“I can’t think clearly when I’m around you,” village vicar Will Ransome (Tom Hiddleston) says to the London widow Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes). This sneakpeak from the trailer indicated a forbidden love between the two. Cora Seaborne moves to Essex to underseek the reports of a mythical serpent. She forms a bond of science and skepticism with the village vicar, that slowly turns into a state of forbidden love- but when a series of disturbance and tragedy strikes, village people blames Cora for enticing the creature.
The story will revolve around the age old traditional beliefs- and how science can challenge it. Village community people blames a mythical creature for a series of disturbance in the village, but an investigator will prove this conjecture false.
In terms of cinematography, the series indeed stands out, as we can see from the trailer. Marvelous landscapes coupled with the dreary tone, elevates the complex and contrasting themes of the series- superstitious and fanatic religious beliefs vs modern science and logic.
The first two episodes of this limited series will premiere on May 13, with new episodes being dropped weekly after that, only on Apple TV+.