First look: Netflix’s The Society

Updated 29-03-19 | 12:03 PM | Staff Reporter

Reading time: 5 mins

Freedom can be fun, but freedom can be dangerous. That’s the motto behind Netflix’s new series, The Society, which introduces us to the citizens of New Ham this May.

The Society follows a group of teenagers who are mysteriously transported to a facsimile of their wealthy New England town without any trace of their parents. Their newfound freedom will be fun… but it will also be very dangerous. As they struggle to figure out what has happened to them and how to get home, they must establish order and form alliances if they want to survive.

The 10-hour series is created by Chris Keyser, who serves as showrunner, and exec-produced by Keyser and Marc Webb. It stars Rachel Keller (Cassandra), Kathryn Newton (Allie), Alex Fitzalan (Harry), Kristine Froseth (Kelly), Jacques Colimon (Will), Sean Berdy (Sam), Toby Wallace (Campbell), Gideon Adlon (Becca), Olivia DeJonge (Elle), Alex MacNicoll (Luke), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Helena), Jose Julian (Gordie), Salena Qureshi (Bean), Jack Mulhern (Grizz) and Grace Victoria Cox (Lexie).

You can see them in action in May 2019 on Netflix, or see the first look at them in the photos just released by Netflix today:

The Society: Rachel Keller joins Netflix’s young adult drama

2nd December 2018

Netflix continues to populate The Society, and Legion’s Rachel Keller is at the top of a long list of names signing up for the young adult drama.

A modern take on Lord of the Flies, the series follows a group of teenagers who are mysteriously transported to a facsimile of their wealthy New England town, left without any trace of their parents. As they struggle to figure out what has happened to them and how to get home, they must establish order and form alliances if they want to survive.

Chris Keyser (The Last Tycoon, Tyrant, Party of Five) will write and executive produce the series that will span 10 episodes, and Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man) will serve as director and executive producer.

It was previously announced that Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies, Lady Bird) will star as Allie, who has lived her entire life in the shadow of her more remarkable older sister Cassandra. Now, Legion and Fargo star Keller has stepped into the role of Cassandra, a popular girl who’s the most impressive among her peers, and they all know it.

A natural leader, Cassandra is the longtime rival of Harry, who will be played by Alex Fitzalan (Slenderman). The epitome of privilege, he’s handsome, wealthy, ambitious and, in almost every other way, entirely unremarkable. Harry finds himself the leader of the roughly half of the population that would choose to recreate, in the New World, an exact replica of the world they left behind.

Gideon Adlon (Blockers, Mustang) has been cast as Becca, who is mature, tough and adventurous, yet always on the outside looking in. She’s the daughter of a single, alcoholic mother and in order to keep the rest of the world at bay, she hides behind her camera, viewing the world with a reporter’s eye.

Jacques Colimon (Duat) will play the role of Will, a foster kid and an outsider in West Ham, who finds his natural social disadvantages disappearing in New Ham.

Olivia DeJonge (The Visit) has been cast as Elle, a dancer who is “brittle from living in the obsessive, cruel world of dance”. Her fear and uncertainty in this new world leaves her susceptible and vulnerable to those who don’t have her best interest in mind. She will struggle to find her own self in this dangerous frontier. Whether she finds salvation or, like those to whom evil is done, comes to do evil in return, only time will tell.

Kristine Froseth (Sierra Burgess Is A Loser, Apostle) will play Kelly, the Queen Bee of West Ham. She’s smart and has a firm moral compass. But now that the rules have been rewritten, she may well take the opportunity to rewrite herself as well. In doing so, she finds herself torn between the old high school hierarchy and the new world order.

Jose Julian (A Better Life, Shameless) will play tech wiz Gordie. Smart and grounded, he proves to be indispensable in the new world. He secretly pines for Cassandra.

Natasha Liu Bordizzo will play Helena , whose certainty – about her boyfriend Luke, about God – masks her deep-seated uncertainty. More confident in Luke’s ability to lead the town than Luke himself, Helena finds herself stepping into that role in the face of conflict.

Alex MacNicoll (Transparent, Backseat) will play Luke, the high school quarterback, and built like one. His girlfriend pushes him to be a leader, but he’s much more content with being a supporter.

Jack Mulhern (Locke & Key) will play Grizz, a jock with a poetic side. Incredibly smart, he becomes important to the power struggles and game of survival in the new world.

Also cast are Salena Qureshi (Madam Secretary) as Bean, Grace Victoria Cox (Heathers, Under The Dome) as Lexie and Sean Berdy (Switched at Birth) and Toby Wallace (Romper Stomper) as Sam and Campbell, brothers and cousins to Cassandra and Allie. Sam is sweet, sensitive, and funny. Born deaf, he is painfully aware of the unfair vicissitudes of fate. His brother, Campbell, is a sociopath, insecure and angry at the attention his brother’s “difference” has stolen from him.

Netflix orders Lord of the Flies series from Marc Webb and Chris Keyser

25th July 2018

Netflix has ordered a new series from Marc Webb and Chris Keyser.

A modern take on Lord of the Flies, the series follows a group of teenagers who are mysteriously transported to a facsimile of their wealthy New England town, left without any trace of their parents. As they struggle to figure out what has happened to them and how to get home, they must establish order and form alliances if they want to survive.

The show stars Kathryn Newton, fresh from Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. She is no stranger to the small screen, though, having played Abigail Carlson in HBO’s hit drama Big Little Lies – a role she will reprise for its second season – and appeared in Supernatural and Halt and Catch Fire.

The series is exec produced by Keyser, who co-created Party of Five, exec produced FX’s Tyrant and worked on Amazon’s The Last Tycoon. Webb, whose breakthrough came as director of (500) Days of Summer, is also exec producing.