Michelle Dockery and Jessica Gunning are leading a seriously strong cast for Feral, a new seven-part Netflix thriller about a group of women fighting to survive on a dangerous tropical island. The Downton Abbey and Baby Reindeer stars will be joined by Andor’s Genevieve O’Reilly, Prime Target actor Quintessa Swindell and Triangle of Sadness star Dolly de Leon. The series is based on Shirley Conran’s 1987 bestselling novel Savages and comes from creator and writer Jude Mack.

What Is Feral About?

The official synopsis reads: “Four very different women accompany their mining executive husbands on a corporate holiday to a beautiful but lethal tropical island. When the men’s shady deals land them all in danger, the women must learn to survive the jungle, and each other. Can they put aside their differences, self-doubts and vanities to stay alive?”

The story will follow the women as they are pushed far outside the lives they are used to and forced to rely on one another to survive. Creator Jude Mack has described the series as “a wild, messy journey of self-discovery”, with the characters expected to behave badly, clash with each other and deal with the danger around them across the seven episodes.

The drama is adapted from Savages, first published in 1987 by Shirley Conran, who was also behind bestselling novel Lace. The book followed wealthy women thrown into an extreme survival situation, with the new Netflix series bringing that story to television.

Who Is in the Feral Cast?

Michelle Dockery will play Julia, with Jessica Gunning starring as Annie. Genevieve O’Reilly takes on the role of Silvana, Quintessa Swindell plays Suzy and Dolly de Leon will appear as Elena.

Dockery is best known for playing Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey, with other credits including Godless, Anatomy of a Scandal, Defending Jacob and The Gentlemen. Gunning won major awards for her performance as Martha in Netflix’s Baby Reindeer and will now take on another leading role for the streamer.

O’Reilly will be familiar to Star Wars viewers as Mon Mothma in Andor, while Swindell has appeared in Prime Target, Black Adam and Trinkets. De Leon earned international acclaim for Triangle of Sadness and has also appeared in Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed.

Who Is Making Feral?

Feral is created and written by Jude Mack, who also serves as an executive producer. Emma Freeman will direct the seven-part series and executive produce alongside Liza Marshall and Bria Thomas for Hera Pictures, as well as Hamish Lewis and David Belshaw for Warner Bros. International Television Production. Laurie Borg serves as series producer.

Speaking about the adaptation, Mack said she was excited to bring Conran’s story to the screen and described the women at the centre of Feral as “funny, brutal, bold”. Hera Pictures founder Liza Marshall also said the characters will be pushed to extremes and have “a whole lot of fun along the way”, despite the dangerous situation they find themselves in.

When Is Feral Released on Netflix?

Netflix has not announced a release date for Feral yet. Production is due to begin in Australia this year, so it is still too early to know when the seven episodes will arrive on the platform. With the cast now confirmed and filming preparing to get underway, more details about the series and its eventual release date should follow as production continues.

For CultureCues, this is a fantastic cast and the story sounds really interesting. We love Jessica Gunning, so seeing her step into another major Netflix role after Baby Reindeer is great, and pairing her with Michelle Dockery is a very strong choice. The rest of the line-up is just as impressive, and we’re really looking forward to seeing how this one comes together.

Feral is coming to Netflix, with filming due to begin in Australia this year.

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