Prime Video has released the western drama The English, with Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer. The limited series has six episodes.
Hugo Blick created The English.
Blunt portrays an English aristocrat named Lady Cornelia Locke and Spencer a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout called Eli Whipp. The pair comes together in 1890 middle America and encounters a violent landscape.
“Both of them have a clear sense of their destiny, but neither is aware that it is rooted in a shared past,” said Prime Video. “They must face increasingly terrifying obstacles that will test them to their limits, physically and psychologically. But as each obstacle is overcome, it draws them closer to their ultimate destination.”
Stephen Rea, Valerie Pachner, Rafe Spall, Tom Hughes, Toby Jones and Ciarán Hinds are also in the cast.
The Guardian called the series “a gorgeous, glorious new take on the old west.”
CNN’s review featured the word “gorgeous” too, but was not as hot. “The series features gorgeous cloud-specked skies and sweeping horizons in what feels like an homage to John Ford westerns. But most of those elements (including the aforementioned dialogue) feel assembled in such a self-conscious and heavy handed way as to blunt the tribute, making it difficult to discern for whom this exercise is intended, other than creating a TV vehicle to bring Blunt’s marquee name to Amazon’s content-hungry shelves.”
Blunt’s credits include A Quiet Place, Mary Poppins Returns and The Girl on the Train. Spencer’s include Banshee and The Twilight Saga film franchise.
The English is produced by Drama Republic Ltd and Eight Rooks Ltd. Blick and Blunt executive produce with Greg Brenman for Drama Republic. ■
