The Veil | |
---|---|
Genre | Thriller |
Created by | Steven Knight |
Written by | Steven Knight |
Starring | |
Music by | Jon Opstad |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producers |
|
Cinematography | Bonnie Elliott |
Editors |
|
Running time | 38–67 minutes |
Production companies |
|
Original release | |
Network | FX on Hulu |
Release | April 30 – May 28, 2024 |
The Veil is an American thriller television limited series written by Steven Knight, produced by FX Productions, and starring Elisabeth Moss and Yumna Marwan. The series premiered on FX on Hulu on April 30, 2024. [1]
A thriller series about a potentially deadly game of truth and lies as two women travel from Istanbul to Paris and London, with one of them possessing a secret that the other needs to expose. [2]
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [6] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Camp" | Daina Reid | Steven Knight | April 30, 2024 | |
Adilah El Idrissi (Yumna Marwan), first seen at a refugee camp, faces imminent danger due to her alleged ties to ISIS. Imogen Salter (Elisabeth Moss), posing as an NGO worker, forms an unexpected alliance with Adilah, aiming to protect her from a mob seeking revenge. Meanwhile, suspicions arise about Imogen's true motives, leading to tension with her UNICRI contact, Guy (Dan Wyllie). As Imogen and Adilah embark on a perilous journey, their backgrounds and motivations come to light, revealing a complex web of personal and political intrigue. Adilah's identity is questioned by French intelligence, setting the stage for a high-stakes confrontation. | |||||
2 | "Crossing the Bridge" | Daina Reid | Steven Knight | April 30, 2024 | |
At the refugee camp on the Syrian–Turkish border, the U.S. military arrives looking for Adilah. In France, Adilah's daughter gets into some trouble with American intelligence agencies. Imogen and Adilah continue their journey to Istanbul, where Imogen abandons their car and subdues an armed pursuer. They seek help from a man (Haluk Bilginer) to obtain fake passports, while Max Peterson (Josh Charles) informs French intelligence of the Americans' moves. The French and American intelligence agencies are closely monitoring Imogen and Adilah's movements, unsure if Adilah is the real target or an ISIS commander using her identity as a cover. Imogen suspects Adilah may be the wanted terrorist Sabaine Al-Qubaisi. | |||||
3 | "The Asset" | Daina Reid | Steven Knight | May 7, 2024 | |
Imogen and Max are revealed to have a working relationship, collaborating to uncover information about her father's death. Meanwhile, Adilah's part of a larger terrorist plot is brought to light, involving the transport of radioactive material on a ship bound for the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Imogen and Adilah continue their cat-and-mouse game, with Adilah eventually gaining the upper hand on Imogen. She lets her go in return for Imogen's help in Adilah and her daughter's escape. In the episode, Imogen also meets with Malik Amar (Dali Benssalah), who warns her of being followed and traced by the other intelligence agencies, while being worried about her behavior with her alter egos. | |||||
4 | "Declassified" | Damon Thomas | Steven Knight | May 14, 2024 | |
5 | "Grandfather's House" | Damon Thomas | Steven Knight | May 21, 2024 | |
6 | "The Cottage" | Damon Thomas | Steven Knight | May 28, 2024 |
The project was announced in August 2022, and marks the fourth series Steven Knight has made with FX Productions. Knight also acts as executive producer. Elisabeth Moss is also executive producer via her Love & Squalor production company for whom Lindsey McManus is also an executive producer. Denise Di Novi and Nina Tassler of PatMa Productions also executive produce. [7] [8]
Elisabeth Moss was confirmed in the lead role in August 2022. [9] Moss has stated that developing an authentic British accent and practicing the action and stunt choreography to make her character believable was more challenging than any previous role. She started learning the accent several months before filming began. [10]
In February 2023, Josh Charles, Dali Benssalah, and Yumna Marwan joined the cast. [11] In March 2023, Haluk Bilginer was added to the cast. [12] The cast also includes Alec Secareanu, Thibault de Montalembert, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, James Purefoy, Joana Ribeiro, Phill Langhorne, Dan Wyllie, Aron von Andrian, and Dali Benssalah. [13]
Filming took place in Turkey, which wrapped in March 2023. Other filming locations include Paris and London. [14] Filming took place in Kent, England in May 2023, with locations including Canterbury Cathedral. [15] Whilst filming a stunt in Istanbul, Moss fractured a vertebra in her spine. [16]
The series was shown on Hulu in the United States, premiering on April 30, 2024, with a two episode premiere, [1] [17] Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ under the Star banner internationally. [18] The show will reportedly consist of six episodes, concluding on May 28, 2024, with episodes being released weekly. [19]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 54% approval rating with an average rating of 5.7/10, based on 35 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Elisabeth Moss' dramatic power remains undiminished with another arresting performance, but The Veil's clunky storytelling doesn't live up to its star's chops." [20] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 52 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [21]
Aramide Tinubu of Variety praised the series as 'gripping', commending Moss' performance, the action and the pacing. [22] Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times said 'As a spy story, it’s a decent example of its kind, but as a dramatic two-hander, fueled by subtle performances from Moss and Marwan, it’s pretty terrific.' [23] Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone was more mild in his praise, also praising Moss and the action sequences but questioning the balance between spy thriller and psychological drama. [24] Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter complimented the opening and Moss, but felt that ' The Veil first becomes perfunctory — Homeland-lite — before fizzling entirely in its concluding episodes, in which almost none of its twisty reveals hits deeply on either a plot or character level.' [25] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian awarded the first episode one star out of five, dubbing it 'a bafflingly bad time-waster' and criticizing the plot and acting. [26] Saloni Gajjar of The A.V. Club was also harsh, dubbing the series 'boring and aimless'. [27]
Hulu is an American subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of The Walt Disney Company.
Elisabeth Singleton Moss is an American actor and producer. The recipient of several accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a nomination for a Tony Award, she was named "Queen of Peak TV" by Vulture in 2017.
Nihat Haluk Bilginer is a Turkish actor. For his role in Şahsiyet (2018), Bilginer won the Best Actor award at the 47th International Emmy Awards. His film Kış Uykusu won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In addition to his acting career in Turkey, he has also worked in the United Kingdom and remains best known for his role as Mehmet Osman in the television soap opera EastEnders during the 1980s. He has also starred in Hollywood movies as a character actor. He often plays villains and unsympathetic characters.
Sebastian Stan is a Romanian-American actor. He gained recognition for his role as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe media franchise beginning with the film Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), and including the Disney+ miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021).
Joey Lynn King is an American actress. She starred as Ramona Quimby in the comedy film Ramona and Beezus (2010) and gained wider recognition for her lead role as a late-blooming teenager in The Kissing Booth film series (2018–2021). King received critical acclaim for playing Gypsy-Rose Blanchard in the crime drama series The Act (2019), for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
The Handmaid's Tale is an American dystopian television series created by Bruce Miller, based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The series was ordered by the streaming service Hulu as a straight-to-series order of ten episodes, for which production began in late 2016. The plot features a dystopia following a Second American Civil War wherein a theonomic, totalitarian society subjects fertile women, called "Handmaids", to child-bearing slavery.
"Offred" is the series premiere of the American television drama series The Handmaid's Tale. It was directed by Reed Morano, and written by Bruce Miller, adapting material from the 1985 Margaret Atwood novel The Handmaid's Tale. The episode debuted on the streaming service Hulu on April 26, 2017.
FX Productions, LLC (FXP) is an American television and in-house production company owned by FX Networks, a division of the Disney Entertainment unit of The Walt Disney Company. It was also known in copyright as Bluebush Productions from 2007 to 2017. The studio currently produces series for FX, FXX and FX on Hulu. In the past, FXP also produced series for Amazon Prime Video, Epix, Fox, and TBS, but the studio has since returned its sole focus to the FX channels.
The Old Man is an American drama thriller television series based on the 2017 novel The Old Man by Thomas Perry. It was developed by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine and premiered on FX on June 16, 2022. The first season consisted of seven episodes. Following its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 12, 2024.
Emma Jill Appleton is an English actress and model. She starred in the Channel 4 spy thriller Traitors (2019) and the BBC adaptation of Everything I Know About Love (2022). Her films include LOLA (2022). She also appeared in the BBC Three thriller Clique (2017), the Netflix fantasy series The Witcher (2019), and the Hulu miniseries Pistol (2022).
Louis Patrick James Partridge is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor, making his feature film debut in the fantasy Pan (2015). After appearing in Paddington 2 (2017) and portraying Piero de' Medici in the historical drama series Medici (2019), Partridge had his breakthrough as Viscount Tewkesbury in the Netflix mystery film Enola Holmes (2020) and its 2022 sequel. He has since portrayed Sid Vicious in Danny Boyle's FX miniseries Pistol (2022), Peter Pan in the fantasy film The Lost Girls (2022), and Jonathon Brigstocke in Alfonso Cuarón's psychological thriller Disclaimer (2024).
Candy is an American biographical crime drama television miniseries created by Nick Antosca and Robin Veith. The series stars Jessica Biel as the real-life Candy Montgomery, who was accused of the axe murder of her neighbor, Betty Gore in 1980, in Texas. It premiered on May 9, 2022, on Hulu, with a new episode for five nights until May 13. The miniseries received generally positive reviews from critics. It was nominated for Outstanding Main Title Design at the 74th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards
Great Expectations is a historical drama television miniseries developed by Steven Knight, based on the 1861 novel by Charles Dickens. It premiered on BBC One on 26 March 2023, followed by its US premiere on FX on Hulu later the same day.
The Patient is an American psychological thriller limited series created and written by Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers Chris Long, Caroline Moore, Victor Hsu, and Steve Carell. The series stars Carell alongside Domhnall Gleeson and Linda Emond in lead roles. It premiered on August 30, 2022, on FX on Hulu and concluded on October 25, 2022, after a ten-episode run.
A Murder at the End of the World is an American psychological mystery thriller television miniseries created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij for FX on Hulu. It stars Emma Corrin as an amateur detective who attempts to solve a murder at an isolated Arctic retreat in Iceland. The supporting cast includes Brit Marling, Clive Owen, and Harris Dickinson.
Shell is a 2024 American dark comedy horror film directed by Max Minghella, written by Jack Stanley, and starring Elisabeth Moss, Kate Hudson, Kaia Gerber and Elizabeth Berkley.
Yumna Marwan is a Lebanese-Palestinian television and film actress.