# The Handmaid's Tale (2017)

> A woman forced into reproductive servitude under a fundamentalist theocracy fights to survive and resist.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/60853

## Facts

- Seasons: 6
- Episodes: 66
- Episode runtime: 53 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, science fiction
- Created by: Bruce Miller
- Network: Hulu
- Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Max Minghella, Samira Wiley, Amanda Brugel, Nina Kiri, O-T Fagbenle, Sam Jaeger
- TMDB rating: 8.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5834204/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: extreme
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: harrowing, tense, suspenseful, bleak, defiant

## What critics say

Critics broadly regard the series as a harrowing, acclaimed dystopian drama carried by its lead performances and timely political resonance, though its later seasons draw criticism.

## Synopsis

The Handmaid's Tale (2017-2025) is an American dystopian drama series created by Bruce Miller for Hulu. Elisabeth Moss stars as June Osborne, a woman forced to serve as a Handmaid, a concubine assigned to bear children for a childless commander in the fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship of Gilead. Yvonne Strahovski plays Serena Joy Waterford, the commander's wife, whose resentment and ambition complicate every household, while Max Minghella, Samira Wiley and O-T Fagbenle appear among the principal characters navigating the regime's rules. June's engine is simple and relentless: she wants to survive, protect a child, and find a way to reunite with her family, while every ceremony, inspection and whispered rumor threatens to expose her. The show runs six seasons as one continuing serialized story, with each episode built from tense domestic confinement, surveillance, covert resistance and brutal punishment. Set in a near-future American republic remade by religious authoritarianism, it carries a suffocating, dread-filled atmosphere lit by moments of defiance and hope. Its tones are harrowing yet gripping, and its themes center on bodily autonomy and the fragility of freedom. Fans of The Man in the High Castle and Children of Men will find resonance in its portrait of oppression.

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