Netflix Surprises With New Show, THE OA

For Netflix fans going through Stranger Things withdrawal till season 2, Christmas has come early. The online streaming service surprised many by releasing a trailer for a new eight-episode series, The OA, which will premiere Friday December 16.

There has been no publicity for the new show, simply an announcement last winter when news broke that Netflix had green-lit the series from Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, who had collaborated on The Sound of My Voice and The East.

The story is about a woman (Brit Marling) who returns to her family after disappearing for seven years. No explanation is given for her disappearance, only as a girl she was blind and returned mysteriously cured. A team of men question her about her absence and as she undergoes some kind of memory recovery therapy, has flashes of running through woods and fields, jumping off a bridge, and uncovering odd markings on her back. Some believe she is a miracle while others worry she could be dangerous. Any trauma (or resurrection?) she may have experienced she could not see but could experience and recall people through touch. As she states, she didn’t disappear, she was present for it all.

Netflix describes the show as a “powerful, mind-bending tale about identity, human connection, and the borders between life and death.”

Batmanglij directs all eight episodes with Marling in the lead. Oscar-winning producers Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Michael join the team as executive producers. Netflix and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, True Detective producer Anonymous Content co-produce with Marling and Batmanglij.

Her costars include Scott Wilson (The Walking Dead, CSI, The Right Stuff), Patrick Gibson (The Passing Bells, The Tudors), Will Brill (Elementary), Brendan Meyer (Fear of the Walking Dead, Mr. Young), Emory Cohen (Smash), and newcomers Brandon Perea and Ian Alexander.

Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think!