# Barkskins (2020)

> A disparate group of outcasts and dreamers struggles to outrun their pasts on the brutal 16th-century North American frontier.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/79297

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Elwood Reid
- Network: National Geographic
- Cast: David Thewlis, Marcia Gay Harden, Aneurin Barnard, James Bloor, Zahn McClarnon, David Wilmot, Tallulah Haddon, Christian Cooke
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9426272/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: bleak, harrowing, brooding, sincere

## Synopsis

Barkskins (2020) is an American historical drama miniseries created by Elwood Reid for National Geographic. Adapted from the sweeping novel by Pulitzer-winning author Annie Proulx, the eight-episode limited series follows a disparate group of outcasts and dreamers who arrive in the New World seeking a second chance. Their struggle is to escape the dark histories that followed them across the ocean while navigating brutal frontier hardships, rival colonial powers and shifting alliances. David Thewlis plays Claude Trepagny, Marcia Gay Harden plays Mathilde Geffard, and Aneurin Barnard plays Hamish Goames, each drawn into a web of greed and tangled loyalties. Set in the 16th century on the edge of the French and English settlements, the series moves through dense forest villages where indigenous peoples and newcomers collide. Its tone is harsh and melancholic, with a grounded, unflinching look at survival and ambition. Viewers who enjoy The Revenant and Hell on Wheels will find resonance in its rugged, violent world and its portrait of frontier moral compromise.

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