The Handmaid's Tale (1990) on Netflix
R19901h 48mDramaRomanceSci-FiThriller
In the Republic of Gilead, most women can no longer bear children. Kate, caught fleeing with her family, is forced into training as a Handmaid for a commander and his wife.
- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb6.0/1012,592 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes32%
Trailer
Plot summary
The Republic of Gilead, once the United States, has collapsed into a religious regime after a sterility plague and widespread pollution. Kate tries to flee to Canada with her husband Luke and their daughter Jill, and Gilead's guards seize her at the border. She is sent to a training center where Aunt Lydia drills fertile women into obedience as Handmaids, concubines meant to bear children for childless couples, and there she meets Moira. Kate is then placed in the household of the Commander and his wife, Serena Joy, where she is renamed Offred, and their driver, Nick, catches her eye. Rebels are already organizing against the regime.
Cast
- Zoey Wilsonas Aunt Helena
- Lucia Hartpengas Cora
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Handmaid's Tale (1990)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Screenwriter Harold Pinter was so unhappy with how much director Volker Schlondorff and author Margaret Atwood altered his script that he tried to have his name removed from the film's credits, but was unsuccessful.
- Original director Karel Reisz left the production after the studio refused to fund the large crowd scenes with thousands of extras that he wanted; Volker Schlondorff then took over as director.
- This 1990 film was the first screen adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale, made nearly three decades before the Hulu television series began streaming in 2017.
