Hulu is no stranger to book-to-TV adaptations. Especially after finding hits in Little Fires Everywhere, Tell Me Lies, and the Sally Rooney-verse. This year, even more, adapted titles are on the head of the streamer, including Saint X. It is based on Alexis Schaitkin’s 2020 bestseller.
Like its source material, the upcoming series follows a young woman’s mysterious death during a family vacation in the Caribbean. Also, her younger sister’s obsessive search for answers years later. The psychological drama went through multiple timelines and perspectives. That aims to turn the typical girl-gone-missing genre on its head.
Moreover, the novel works similarly, exploring race and privilege within a story that could be easily written off as another Missing White Girl narrative. As author Oyinkan Braithwaite writes in her review for the New York Times,
Saint X Plot
The synopsis for “Saint X,” spread via multiple timelines. So, it states that the show “upends the girl-gone-missing genre as it explores how a young woman’s mysterious death during an idyllic Caribbean vacation creates a traumatic ripple effect that eventually pulls her surviving sister into a dangerous pursuit of the truth.”
Saint X Trailer
Saint X Release Date
The series will premiere on Hulu on April 26 with three episodes. New episodes will then debut weekly on Wednesdays.
Who’s in the cast?
Fear the Walking Dead’s Alycia Debnam-Carey stars as Emily Thomas. She joined Josh Bonzie (The Good Fight) as Clive “Gogo” Richardson, West Duchovny (Linoleum) as Alison Thomas, and Jayden Elijah (School’s Out Forever) as Edwin. Bre Francis (Malory Towers) as Sara, Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad) as Mia Thomas. Michael Park (As the World Turns) as Bill Thomas, and Kenlee Anaya Townsend as Claire.
Gerstein adds that the cast members “were dreams to work with. They brought depth and honesty to all their performances. Also, we were so very lucky to have the amazing Dee Rees on board to direct the first episode and set the look and tone of the season.”
Saint X Alludes to a Young Woman’s Mysterious Real-Life Disappearance in the Drama’s Trailer
Hulu is coming out with its own “The White Lotus“-esque vacation story gone wrong with a haunting new series seemingly inspired by a true story. However, “Saint X,” is based on Alexis Schaitkin’s critically acclaimed 2020 novel of the same name. So, it follows the harrowing story of a young woman named Alison who goes missing while on a tropical getaway with her family.
However, the captivating true-crime tale went through multiple timelines. As Alison’s family desperately tries to get to the bottom of the mystery of her death. “This was not an accident, and everyone knows it,” Alison’s father says tearfully in the show’s trailer, which arrived on April 6.
“Saint X,” however, may more closely follow Schaitkin’s book. Which details the bond between two sisters who never truly got a chance to know each other. However, the perspective of Alison’s sister (named Claire in the novel) is teased at the start of the show’s trailer. “My sister’s murder was headline news for years,” she says in the clip. “The whole world knows more than I do.”
Also read: Marvel’s Runaways Season 4: Release Date, Plot, Cast, and Their Stand Against Pride
