| The Narrow Road to the Deep North | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | |
| Based on | The Narrow Road to the Deep North byRichard Flanagan |
| Written by | Shaun Grant |
| Directed by | Justin Kurzel |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Alexandra Taussig |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | 18 April 2025 (2025-04-18) |
The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a 2025 Australiandrama miniseries based on thenovel of the same name byRichard Flanagan. It was written byShaun Grant, directed byJustin Kurzel and starsJacob Elordi,Odessa Young, andCiarán Hinds. The series follows Dorrigo Evans across three periods: before his deployment to the Second World War, during his time as aFar East prisoner of war, and several decades after the war. Each period reveals different parts of Dorrigo's love affair with his uncle’s new young wife, Amy. The series was released on Amazon Prime on 18 April 2025 to critical acclaim.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(August 2025) |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Justin Kurzel | Shaun Grant | 18 April 2025 (2025-04-18) | |
The episode follows Dorrigo Evans across three alternating timelines. In one, he is a young medical student in Australia who is preparing to ship out to war. He asks his girlfriend Ella to marry him. Meanwhile, he becomes close to his aunt, Amy. In the second timeline, Dorrigo is shown as a prisoner of war in a Japanese labor camp. In the third, he is an old man, and a respected surgeon. He is interviewed by a journalist who asks him about his time in the war. In the earlier timeline, Dorrigo is entertained by Amy at his uncle's suggestion when the uncle cannot meet. They get drunk and share an embrace. | |||||
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Justin Kurzel | Shaun Grant | 18 April 2025 (2025-04-18) | |
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Justin Kurzel | Shaun Grant | 18 April 2025 (2025-04-18) | |
| 4 | "Episode 4" | Justin Kurzel | Shaun Grant | 18 April 2025 (2025-04-18) | |
| 5 | "Episode 5" | Justin Kurzel | Shaun Grant | 18 April 2025 (2025-04-18) | |
In March 2018,Fremantle acquired rights toNarrow Road to the Deep North byRichard Flanagan, to adapt into a television series.[1] In November 2019, it was announcedJustin Kurzel would direct the series, withShaun Grant serving as writer.[2] Fremantle later exited the project withCurio Pictures serving as producer instead.[3]
In November 2022,Jacob Elordi joined the cast,[4] followed byOdessa Young,Ciarán Hinds,Olivia DeJonge,Heather Mitchell,Thomas Weatherall,Show Kasamatsu, Charles An, andSimon Baker in November 2023.[5]
Principal photography began in November 2023,[6] and filming continued through to March 2024.[7]
Amazon Prime Video distributed the series in Australia, United States, Canada, and New Zealand, withSony Pictures Television set to distribute elsewhere internationally.[8][9] On 17 January 2025, it was announced that after the first presentation at the75th Berlin International Film Festival, the series would be released on 18 April 2025 to coincide with Easter holidays on Amazon Prime Video.[10]The series was acquired by theBBC for broadcast onBBC One & theBBC iPlayer inUnited Kingdom.[11] In Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland, the series will be available in Sky, whereasHBO Max will stream the series exclusively in Central and Eastern Europe. In Latin America, the series will be available in NBCUniversal'sUniversal+. Other deals includeRTÉ (Ireland),Movistar Plus+ (Spain), Nova (Greece),AXN (Portugal) andLG Uplus (South Korea).[12]
The review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.3/10, based on 37 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A difficult watch made riveting by director Justin Kurzel and star Jacob Elordi's sterling work,The Narrow Road to the Deep North chronicles the inhumanity of war with fierce intelligence."[13]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 83 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "universal acclaim " reviews.[14]
In a review forThe Guardian, Luke Buckmaster awarded the show 4 out of 5 stars, noting the strength of the performances and the complexity of the relationships depicted. He also complimented the direction, writing: "You never doubt the show’s realism, or the compassion underpinning it".[15] Hugh Montgomery of theBBC praised the acting of Elordi and Young and described them as possessing "smouldering chemistry".[16]
