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The Clearing is an Australian psychological thriller miniseries produced for Disney+ and inspired by the dark story of a real-life cult with a female leader. The series premiered on 24 May 2023 on Disney+ and Hulu. Directed by Jeffrey Walker and Gracie Otto, it is based on the book In the Clearing by J. P. Pomare, a fictionalised account of the Australian cult group The Family, and stars Miranda Otto, Teresa Palmer, and Guy Pearce.
Contents
Synopsis
A woman is forced to face the demons of her past in order to prevent a cult from kidnapping children.
Cast
Main
Teresa Palmer as Freya Heywood
Miranda Otto as Adrienne Beaufort
Guy Pearce as Dr. Bryce Latham
Supporting
Julia Savage as Amy Beaufort
Hazem Shammas as Yusuf Joe Saad
Jeremy Blewitt as Anton Beaufort
Kate Mulvany as Tamsin Latham
Xavier Samuel as Colin Garrison
Anna Lise Phillips as Hannah Wilczek
Mark Coles Smith as Wayne Dhurrkay
Harry Greenwood as Anton Beaufort
Erroll Shand as Henrik Wilczek
Doris Younane as Christine
Claudia Karvan as Mariam Herzog
Miah Madden as Max Dhurrkay
Gary Sweet as Wilkes
Alicia Gardiner as Judith
Matt Okine as Devon
Lily La Torre as Asha
Ras-Samuel Welda’abzgi as Mo
Berlin Lu as Kim Wu
Kristof Kaczmarek as Ari Herzog
Jake Schlieper as Paul Saad
John Voce as Father Campbell
Olivia Pawsey as Carrie Anderson
Production
The series is produced by Wooden Horse and based on the best selling crime-thriller In the Clearing by J. P. Pomare and the real-life group The Family and their charismatic leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne. The series was adapted by Elise McCredie, Matt Cameron and Osamah Sami. Directed by Jeffrey Walker and Gracie Otto, the producer is Jude Troy and the executive producers are McCredie, Cameron and Walker with Richard Finlayson and Elizabeth Bradley.
Casting
Teresa Palmer, Miranda Otto, and Guy Pearce were confirmed as part of the cast in July 2022.
Filming
Principal photography began in Victoria, Australia in July 2022.
Broadcast
The series was broadcast on Hulu in the United States and as a Star Original on Disney+ throughout the world from Wednesday, 24 May 2023 with new episodes being released weekly thereafter on Wednesdays.
Reception
The series has an 89% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Deriving extra flavor from its Australian setting and Miranda Otto's unsettling performance, The Clearing is an eerie thriller with plenty to recommend." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 61 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Accolades
The limited miniseries was nominated in the Best Miniseries category at the AACTA Awards, with Teresa Palmer receiving a nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Drama.