A new six-part series called The Survivors has burst onto the Australian television scene. It’s a thrilling adaptation that does justice to Jane Harper’s bestselling crime novel. Tony Ayres, celebrated for his adaptations including Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap and co-creating Stateless in 2020, penned the six-part series. It aims to hook audiences with its labyrinthine plot and magnetic characters.
The story takes place in the fictional small Australian fishing town of Evelyn Bay. It begins with the stranger-than-fiction killing of Bronte, a newly arrived young woman from out of town. She comes with intent, investigating the suspicious death of Gabby, a northern woman who went missing under similar circumstances 15 years ago. Bronte’s untimely death now raises very disturbing questions about potential sexual assault. This terrible loss is compounded by the legacy of violence, discrimination, and systemic racism that plagues the community.
Kieran, the novel’s other main character and romantic lead, returns to Evelyn Bay after long years of voluntary exile. He returns with his wife Mia and their newborn baby, facing a past filled with scars and lingering loss. Kieran’s older brother Finn, as well as Finn’s friend Toby, both of whom were raised with Kieran, drowned in an accident 15 years before this narrative begins. This sinister legacy returns to haunt them as Kieran comes to terms with the shames of his family’s past and struggles to build a future of his own.
The story further complicates when Kieran’s father, Brian, is diagnosed with early onset dementia. His condition impacts family dynamics. To make matters worse, during their brief time together, he confuses Kieran for Finn, raising the stakes of pain and love exponentially. Brian’s struggle is mirrored by the community’s turmoil. The murder of Bronte forces residents to confront long-buried memories and unresolved issues.
The small rural community’s local pub becomes the rallying point for the town’s shared mourning in THE SHED. Under his father Julian’s ownership, the establishment pulsates with grief and outrage. Julian’s feelings have simmered in the intervening years, destroying the relationship he has with his teenage son Liam. Through these characters, we see how grief warps into a terrifying rage, poisoning the mind, body, and soul of both the individual and their family and community.
Bronte was not just an outsider. She had been working for months with her mom, Trish, to renew interest in Gabby’s case. Their hard work illuminates a passionate movement for justice that doesn’t usually get seen in small towns. This effort is muffled by the passage of time. It’s through this procedural merging of Bronte’s murder investigation with the community’s past that a narrative tension is established, leaving audiences hanging in suspense on multiple fronts.
Robyn Malcolm portrays Verity, Kieran’s mother, who finds herself balancing caring for Brian with her concerns about Kieran and Mia’s parenting. Though the familial conflicts are difficult, Verity’s commentary on their lives provides a deeper level to the familial strife that the series illustrates. The scene, like her entire character, captures the burdens and beauties of motherhood amidst personal and community devastation.
As each episode plays out, The Survivors becomes an exploration of loss and memory. Yet it is most powerful in its examination of how longstanding trauma haunts both person and society. With the hooks of a gripping whodunit, the true-crime series lures audiences into an unnerving whodunit. It digs into the intense psychological impact of mourning and remorse.