In The Handmaid’s Tale, near-future America is a dystopian world filled with armed guards, creepy sex ceremonies, diminished women’s rights, regular executions, and underground resistance movements. In the newest trailer for the impending Hulu adaptation of the classic Margaret Atwood novel, the focus is on the world Before.
Every dystopian world has an origin story about how its current state came to be. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the American government is taken over by a far-right militaristic theocracy that uses the threat of Islamic terror attacks to justify its takeover. The Hulu show is understandably pouncing on the real-world parallels in present-day America with the title “her story is our story.”
In the trailer, Elizabeth Moss’s character Offred is shown at an aquarium with her husband and child before she was separated from her family to be a glorified concubine. It slowly tracks the changes: shots of armed guards; then women march in the streets with signs protesting the new regime. Finally, by the end, Offred is shown in her dystopian present day prescribed outfit of a red dress and white “wings” that resemble a bonnet.
She still retains a glimpse of her old life, however — a single rebellious cuff around her ear beneath the head-covering.
The Handmaid’s Tale premieres on April 26th on Hulu.
