The Luminaries is Starz’s upcoming drama miniseries taking place in the midst of the 1860’s West Coast Gold Rush in New Zealand, and is based on New Zealand author Eleanor Catton’s 2013 novel of the same name and which won the prestigious Man Booker Prize that same year – the then twenty eight year old Catton also became the youngest author to ever win the prize. She also wrote the script for the miniseries, which was directed by Claire McCarthy (Ophelia).
Eve Hewson (The Knick) stars as a young Englishwoman who travels to New Zealand in the hopes of striking it rich in the midst of a gold rush, but as a single and attractive young woman she stands out as an oddity amongst the more rough-and-tumble fortune seekers. Soon after her arrival she’s unwittingly drawn into a web of intrigue surrounding the murder of a local businessman with whom she’s accused of having an affair.
The miniseries also stars the always-excellent Eva Green (Penny Dreadful), Himesh Patel (Tenet), Ewen Leslie (Rake), and Marton Csokas (Into the Badlands).
The show’s synopsis is as follows:
This epic drama tells the 19th-century tale of love, murder and revenge as men and women travel across the world to make their fortunes on the wild West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island.
Let’s take a look:
This is a sumptuous-looking period-piece with all the requisite intrigue, love, murder, and twists and turns that make for a good drama. It looks well directed, and the performances seem great as well. The fact that Eva Green is one of my favourite actors, and one who excels at playing dark, manipulative characters like she does here, certainly doesn’t hurt either.
What do you think?
The six-part miniseries The Luminaries will debut on Starz on 14 February, locally you’d need something that has the letters (in no particular order), V, P, and N in it, in order to access it.
Last Updated: January 21, 2021
