The Clearing (TV series)
The Clearing is an Australian eight-part psychological thriller television series produced for Disney+ and inspired by the dark story of a real-life cult with a female leader. The series premiered on 24 May 2023 on Disney+ and Hulu. Directed by Jeffrey Walker and Gracie Otto, it is based on the book In the Clearing by J. P. Pomare, a fictionalised account of the Australian New Age group The Family, and stars Miranda Otto, Teresa Palmer and Guy Pearce. Synopsis
A woman is forced to face the demons of her past in order to prevent a cult from kidnapping children. Cast
 Teresa Palmer as Freya Heywood
 Miranda Otto as Adrienne Beaufort
 Guy Pearce as Dr. Bryce Latham
 Julia Savage as Amy Beaufort
 Hazem Shammas as Yusuf Joe Saad
 Jeremy Blewitt as Anton Beaufort
 Kate Mulvany as Tamsin Latham
  Xavier Samuel as Colin Garrison
 Anna Lise Phillips as Hannah Wilczek
 Mark Coles Smith as Wayne Dhurrkay
 Harry Greenwood as Anton Beaufort
 Erroll Shand as Henrik Wilczek
 Doris Younane as Christine
 Claudia Karvan as Mariam Herzog
 Miah Madden as Max Dhurrkay
 Gary Sweet as Wilkes
 Alicia Gardiner as Judith
 Matt Okine as Devon
 Lily La Torre as Asha
 Ras-Samuel Welda’abzgi as Mo
 Berlin Lu as Kim Wu
 Kristof Kaczmarek as Ari Herzog
 Jake Schlieper as Paul Saad
 John Voce as Father Campbell

Episodes

Production
The series is produced by Wooden Horse and based on the best selling crime-thriller  In the Clearing by J. P. Pomare and the real-life group The Family and their charismatic leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne. The series was adapted by Elise McCredie, Matt Cameron and Osamah Sami. Directed by Jeffrey Walker and Gracie Otto, the producer is Jude Troy and the executive producers are McCredie, Cameron and Walker with Richard Finlayson and Elizabeth Bradley. Casting
Teresa Palmer, Miranda Otto and Guy Pearce were confirmed as part of the cast in July 2022. Filming
Principal photography began in Victoria, Australia in July 2022. Broadcast
The series will be broadcast on Hulu in the United States and as a Star Original on Disney+ throughout the world from Wednesday, 24 May 2023 with new episodes being released weekly thereafter on Wednesdays. Reception 
The series has an 89% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Deriving extra flavor from its Australian setting and Miranda Otto's unsettling performance, The Clearing is an eerie thriller with plenty to recommend." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 61 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". See also

 List of Australian television series

References

External links

2023 Australian television series debuts
2020s Australian drama television series
2020s Australian television miniseries
English-language television shows
Television series about cults
Television shows filmed in Australia
Star (Disney+) original programming
Thriller television series
Television shows based on Australian novels
Psychological thriller television series