Netflix has dropped the trailer for The Survivors, a new Australian mystery-drama series set to debut on June 6. Based on the bestselling novel by Jane Harper, the six-episode series is set in the breathtaking coastal town of Evelyn Bay in Tasmania, where buried secrets threaten to surface.
The series stars Charlie Vickers (The Rings of Power) as Kieran Elliott and Yerin Ha (Bridgerton) as Mia Chang, a couple who return to their small hometown with their young daughter to care for Kieran’s ailing father. But Evelyn Bay, a town that cannot easily forget, quickly becomes a place of reckoning when the body of a young woman washes ashore. This shocking discovery forces the town to confront a tragedy from fifteen years earlier—the drowning of two young men and the mysterious disappearance of a girl. The incident continues to haunt Kieran and others in the tightly-knit community.
Showrunner Tony Ayres, known for his work on Clickbait and Stateless, describes the show as “a Trojan horse”—a family melodrama veiled in the guise of a murder mystery. “At its core, it’s about universal themes like a son’s longing for his mother’s love, and the mother who struggles to give it for fear that it will cause everything in her world to unravel,” Ayres explains in an interview.
While The Survivors is a tale of crime and intrigue, Ayres emphasizes the series’ deeper exploration of grief and loss. “The themes of grief and loss are something that I’ve explored throughout my career,” he says. “This felt like a strong emotional foundation for the show.” He adds that Jane Harper’s novel provides the perfect framework, combining the structure of a classic murder mystery with the emotional depth needed to engage audiences on multiple levels.
Filmed on location in Tasmania’s stunning Eaglehawk Neck, the fictional town of Evelyn Bay is brought to life as a key character in the series. Ayres notes, “It’s cliffs, sea caves, and a pounding ocean. The landscape is spectacular, and the big emotions of the characters play out on a landscape of operatic proportions. That’s why Tasmania is such a fitting backdrop for this story.”
The ensemble cast also features Robyn Malcolm, Jessica De Gouw, Miriama Smith, Johnny Carr, George Mason, Damien Garvey, and Shannon Berry, among others.
The Survivors will be available for streaming on Netflix starting June 6.
