Netflix has released the first teaser and poster for East of Eden, its new seven-episode limited series starring Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames. Adapted by Zoe Kazan from John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel, the drama will stream globally this autumn, though Netflix has not yet confirmed an exact release date.
The first teaser puts Pugh’s Cathy at the centre of the story, opening with a haunting line about wanting to become small enough to disappear from the bad things around her. It is a suitably ominous introduction to a character Netflix describes as an “indelible antihero,” with the series shifting fresh attention onto Cathy while following the multigenerational saga of the Trask family.
“When I was a little girl, I imagined that I could grow smaller. So small that the bad things couldn’t find me, and I could disappear. Because the world is so full of evil. You are growing smaller and smaller. So small, no door can keep you out, and no door can close you in. So small, you have almost disappeared. But you will not, Cathy. You will not disappear.”
florence pugh as Cathy ames, east of eden teaser
Christopher Abbott stars as Adam Trask, while Mike Faist plays Charles Trask. The cast also includes Hoon Lee as Lee, Tracy Letts as Cyrus Trask, Martha Plimpton as Faye, Ciarán Hinds as Samuel Hamilton, Joseph Zada as Cal Trask and Joe Anders as Aron Trask.
The series unfolds across the decades between the American Civil War and World War I, as Cathy’s life becomes tangled with Adam and Charles Trask, two brothers caught in the darker side of the California dream. It is a story about family history, choice and the brutal ways the past keeps reaching into the present.
Zoe Kazan wrote the series and serves as executive producer, with Jeb Stuart joining her as co-showrunner. Garth Davis directs episodes one to four, while Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre directs episodes five to seven.
For CultureCues, East of Eden already looks like one of Netflix’s most intriguing dramas, partly because of how the teaser appears to frame Cathy Ames. Netflix describes her as an antihero, but in Steinbeck’s novel she is one of his most infamous creations: cruel, manipulative and often read as a figure of almost pure evil. That makes the decision to place fresh focus on her perspective especially interesting. Will the series soften her, complicate her, or make us sit uncomfortably inside the mind of someone monstrous? Either way, Florence Pugh feels like the perfect choice for the role, with the kind of screen presence that could make Cathy both terrifying and completely compelling to watch. Autumn just got a lot more interesting.
All seven episodes of East of Eden will arrive on Netflix this autumn. Watch the teaser below.
Nikki Murray is a UK-based writer, screenwriter and founder & editor of CultureCues, covering film, television, music and pop culture. Her work focuses on storytelling and the moments shaping modern entertainment.