Killing Eve, a Thriller
Sandra Oh Leads The Female-Driven Series
In 2014, author Luke Jennings published his first Villanelle novella as a Kindle Single. In 2017, all four stories were collected into the novel, Codename Villanelle. Now, the complex, erotic, violent, and pulse-pounding tale of Eve and Villanelle is being turned into a television series on BBC America.
Killing Eve stars Jodie Comer (England is Mine, Doctor Foster) as Villanelle, a deadly assassin with a mysterious past, and Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy) as Eve, the MI5 agent who has made it her mission to take down Villanelle before she strikes again. The series follows both characters as they pursue each other in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with high-stakes and white-knuckle tension, as well as complex characterization and deep psychosis.
Villanelle is a complicated character, twisted and psychotic, yet still compelling and even someone audiences can tentatively cheer for. As she remarks in the trailer, “You should never tell a psychopath ‘you’re a psychopath.'” Meanwhile, Eve is bored with her desk job at the agency, which is a far cry from her youthful dreams of 007-style espionage. She gets more than she bargained for as she begins to obsess over the mysterious Villanelle. It appears Eve is on her way to learning this terrible lesson – be careful what you wish for; it just might get you.
Being a spy thriller with two female leads, it should come as no surprise that the series is creatively spearheaded by a talented woman; indeed, Killing Eve is developed and executive produced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who is best known for her earlier BBC series, the critically-acclaimed Fleabag. A versatile performer, Waller-Bridge will also be co-starring in the most anticipated movie of the summer, Solo: A Star Wars Story, alongside Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover.
Killing Eve premieres April 8 on BBC America.
