The Handmaid's Tale shows how strong humans can be...

A LOOK of defiant determination passes across the face of Elisabeth Moss. “It has shown me how strong humanity really is,” says the actress, slowly. “The different ways of fighting that these characters have shown, whether by small acts of rebellion or by June’s more forward-facing resistance, [demonstrate] these people are fighting for something that matters to them. There are so many ways they have shown how strong humans can be. It’s left me with a very hopeful feeling for all of us.”

- By Gabrielle Donnelly

She is talking, of course, about The Handmaid’s Tale, the edge-of-the-seat dystopian epic based on the acclaimed 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood, currently airing its sixth and final season on Channel 4 and Prime Video.

For those still not in the know, The Handmaid’s Tale chronicles the story of June Osborne, a free-spirited young woman caught in a nightmarish near future in which the former United States of America has been reformed into a militarised theocratic society called Gilead under which women have been stripped of their civil and reproductive rights.

Over the course of the six series we see June face down the oppressive regime, and lead a fight for freedom for herself and her fellow handmaids, along with her bid to be reunited with her daughter, Hannah.

Although the series ends this summer, the discussions it has sparked will undoubtedly live on. With draconian anti-abortion laws having been installed in several US states, and women’s rights at risk in many other countries, the show has become a rallying call for women across the globe.

In fact, the word Gilead has become shorthand for the way women fear society might be going and in many countries not only in America, but in Argentina, Israel, and even Northern Ireland - the sight of a mass of women wearing the handmaids’ iconic costume of flowing red cloaks and winged white bonnets has become all too commonplace as more and more women feel impelled to protest their rights.

As the show’s star, producer and occasional director including the much-anticipated finale on July 5 Elisabeth, 42, has been acutely conscious of its relevance to the real-world threats faced by women since the first episode launched in 2017.