Anya Taylor-Joy’s New Netflix Series Is Based on an Incredibly Dark Book

Following the warm reception of The Queen’s Gambit, Anya Taylor-Joy returns to Netflix with an all-new, dark series based on Bella Mackie’s book, How to Kill Your Family.

Taylor-Joy’s version of the book’s heroine is the forgotten daughter of a cruel billionaire. When blood turns you off, there’s only one option: revenge.

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The full picture of the new TV show is still being pieced together. Casting and other announcements will be coming soon, but thanks to the book, we know where this train is headed.

Is there a release date for How to Kill Your Family?

There is no release dateNetflix has announced an adaptation for August 21, 2024, but filming has not yet begun.

Netflix

The big news was announced as soon as the series secured its lead star. Given the timeline, 2025 is the earliest we can expect a premiere.

To throw

Anya Taylor-Joy will lead How to Kill Your Family as the sinuous, monologue-speaking Grace. That’s the only confirmed name for now. More of the cast will join her as production gets closer.

Taylor-Joy previously won a SAG Award and a Golden Globe for her role in The Queen’s Gambit . Her success on the streaming service and the fact that she’s signed on as an executive producer for LadyKiller Productions on the adaptation make it clear that she’s happy to be back.

“Anya is a fantastic collaborator and she couldn’t be a better actress to play Grace – sophisticated, multi-layered, dangerously funny and desperately intuitive,” executive producer Woodward Gentle told Netflix.

What is the plot?

How to Kill Your Family is a story about a woman named Grace who dedicates herself to murdering her billionaire father and his family after he cruelly abandoned Grace and her mother.

Grace’s father, Simon Artemis, claims he has no memory of her mother, with whom he had an affair. Grace was the result of this extra activity.

When Grace’s mother dies after raising her daughter without the support of her wealthy father, she vows revenge when his family rejects her. With an inheritance at stake and simmering anger fueling her, Grace sets out to kill Artemis and those like him.

Moran told Netflix, “She’s the kind of complicated, dark, yet incredibly funny antihero you dream of. Finding the balance between the fun of camp and the brutal violence that Bella captures so perfectly in the book is a challenge I’m looking forward to. I’ve never had more fun on a project with so many victims.”

How to Kill Your Family – Book Explanation

The Netflix series is based on Bella Mackie’s bestselling 2021 book of the same title..

HarperCollins

The book’s synopsis says it’s perfect for Killing Eve fans. It’s easy to see why that tone applies when you read the synopsis, written from Grace’s perspective:

“I have killed several people (some brutally, some peacefully), and yet I am currently sitting in prison for a murder I did not commit.

“When I think about what I actually did, I feel a little sad that no one will ever know about the complicated operation I performed. Of course, it would be better to accept it, but maybe when I’m long gone, someone will open an old safe and find this confession.

“The audience would have been shocked. After all, almost no one else in the world could understand how someone, at just 28 years old, could calmly kill six members of his family. And then happily move on with his life, with no regrets.”

Well… maybe one regret: she ends up in prison for a murder she didn’t commit this time. That’s not a spoiler, by the way, it’s a matter of preparation.

Netflix has described the adaptation as “inspired by” the book, so it may not be 100% faithful.

“It’s been thrilling to watch the characters I’ve written come to life under the guidance of this wonderful creative team,” the author said. “Working with Sid Gentle has been a joy, and being introduced to Emma has given me the utmost confidence that the book is in safe hands.”

While it may change some things to better transition the story from the page to TV, it seems like the core ideas and spirit will remain intact.

Are there any trailers?

There are no trailers for the movie How to Kill Your FamilyFilming for the series hasn’t started yet, so we’ll have to wait a long time.

However, if you’ve read the book and want to see one of its chapters come to life, we found a trailer created by actress Sara Nelson, who had a lot of fun acting out scenes from Chapter 8.

How to watch

How to Kill Your Family will be available exclusively on Netflix.

It’s a Netflix Original, so it won’t be available anywhere else. Subscribers will be able to watch it at no additional cost. No word on whether it’ll be a binge-watch or a weekly series, but based on similar shows (Inventing Anna, etc.), we’d bet on all episodes being released at once.

How many episodes will How to Kill Your Family have?

The series will have eight episodes and it will be a limited series. This issue was confirmed as part of the casting announcement.

That’s a typical number for a miniseries. We also expect the runtime to be longer. The book is 354 pages and has 18 chapters. Quick math: each episode could span 2.25 chapters of the book.

Of course, it’s rarely that simple. When adapting to the screen, the pace and structure will change to best suit the medium.

More TV shows coming soon: check out the best Netflix horror movies to watch this Halloween, the best upcoming anime series on Netflix, and find out when Interview with the Vampire season 2 will be on Netflix.