TOP DRAMA FROM DOWN UNDER

The Survivors is an emotional whodunit Netflix series

- STORY: TATAT BUNNAG

What if you were responsible for a tragedy that changed someone else's life forever? Guilt drives you to leave home, but it follows you, lingering like a shadow. And when you finally return hoping that time has buried the past you discover the thing you feared most has been there all along, waiting.

The Survivors is a six-part Australian drama miniseries created by Tony Ayres for Netflix, based on Jane Harper's 2020 novel. It's a mystery thriller that consistently keeps you guessing. Tense, brooding, and beautifully crafted, The Survivors delivers a character-driven story that lingers in your mind long after the final credits roll.

The premise follows Kieran Elliott (played by Charlie Vickers), whose life is forever altered when two people drown and a teenage girl goes missing in his coastal hometown of Evelyn Bay. Fifteen years later, he returns with his partner and infant daughter. But as soon as he sets foot back in town, long-buried guilt resurfaces especially when a young woman's body is discovered on the beach.

Once again, the community is rocked by tragedy, and as the investigation unfolds, it threatens to expose painful secrets, the truth about the girl who went missing years ago, and the identity of a killer hiding in plain sight.

I enjoy this kind of limited series because they're one-and-done perfect for a tightly woven murder mystery. The Survivors is one of those shows where, over the course of its runtime, you slowly uncover the characters' secrets, pent-up resentments and long-held emotional wounds. Each piece of the puzzle carries weight, adding emotional depth to the characters' grief, anger and sorrow.