The anticipation for Netflix’s latest psychological thriller, The Woman in Cabin 10, is reaching fever pitch with the release of its gripping new trailer, and Keira Knightley is at the heart of the suspense.
In the freshly unveiled trailer, Knightley portrays Laura “Lo” Blacklock, a journalist on assignment aboard a posh super-yacht. As night cloaks the deck, she witnesses what appears to be a woman being thrown overboard. But when Lo alerts the crew and passengers, no one believes her, as the cruise’s manifest shows everyone accounted for. Is she misremembering? Hallucinating?
Lo holds firm:
“I am not imagining this.”
Her conviction sets the stage for a gripping, tension-filled journey on waters where perception is as treacherous as the sea itself.
Director Simon Stone’s vision for the film leans heavily into the claustrophobic dread of a thriller that feels both glamorous and inescapable. He likens the setting to a “luxurious bunker”:
“It’s a kind of trapped-in-a-bunker thriller, but it happens to be the most luxurious bunker in the world.”
Stone built the film’s emotional core around Knightley’s performance as grounded, charismatic, and utterly believable. He wanted her portrayal to be so compelling that audiences instinctively side with her, challenging the long-held trope of dismissing women’s accounts simply because of their gender or perceived instability.
The trailer offers glimpses of the eclectic and enigmatic ensemble cast that keeps Lo, and viewers on edge:
- Guy Pearce plays Richard Bullmer, the yacht’s enigmatic owner.
- Hannah Waddingham as the gossipy Heidi.
- Kaya Scodelario as an influencer named Grace.
- Daniel Ings as Adam, the media heir.
- David Ajala as Ben, Lo’s ally and photographer on the voyage.
The overall cast list, as reported by Tudum, is impressive, including Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Morrissey, Art Malik, and several others, each potentially hiding secrets behind genteel smiles.
Based on Ruth Ware’s 2016 bestseller, the adaptation keeps the novel’s chilling premise. A woman’s claim that defies everyone else’s assurances, pushing her into an isolated fight for validation and survival. Ware herself emphasised that the story resonates because “the fear of not being believed is perennial…” She commended how the adaptation handles Lo’s plight, showing what it means to report the truth and still be dismissed.
The Woman in Cabin 10 sets sail on Netflix October 10. Stone promises more than just a tight plot, he teases a cinematic twist that mirrors, yet expands upon, the novel’s climactic reveal. “Something fairly unprecedented happens at the core of the movie… the twist is pretty massive,” he hints.
Netflix’s trailer for The Woman in Cabin 10 delivers everything thriller fans crave. A disquieting mystery, emotional stakes, a stellar ensemble, and a setting that’s both opulent and ominously empty. At its helm, Keira Knightley anchors the narrative with a performance that begs the viewer’s trust, because the only thing more dangerous than the sea might be what lies beneath the surface.
