Kate Winslet is leading The Unheard, a new five-episode Netflix thriller with Maxine Peake. The two actors will play sisters who go on the run after an act of vengeance goes wrong. Netflix announced the series on August 26 as part of its UK slate at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
The project is still early. Filming is planned for 2027, Netflix has not announced a release date, and there is no trailer or full cast list yet. What we do have is a clear setup, two strong leads, and a writer whose last Netflix drama became one of the year’s biggest television conversations.
What is The Unheard about?
Netflix’s official description keeps the details tight: two sisters run after a revenge act goes wrong. They are being pursued, but the series is also interested in the decision that put them there. The announcement asks what pushed them into the act and whether they ever expected to get away with it.
That leaves the central event deliberately off-screen for now. We do not know who the sisters targeted, what they were trying to punish, or how quickly the plan fell apart. The title and logline point to a thriller built around what the women know, what they refuse to say, and what the people chasing them think happened.
Some early reports compare the premise to Thelma & Louise, but Netflix has not presented The Unheard as an adaptation or a remake. The confirmed description is narrower: this is a new drama about two sisters, a failed act of revenge, and the consequences that follow them down the road.
Kate Winslet and Maxine Peake are the two leads
Winslet and Peake are confirmed as the sisters at the center of the story, although Netflix has not named their characters. Winslet is also an executive producer. The role gives her another serious television project after Mare of Easttown and The Regime, while continuing her relationship with Netflix after directing and starring in Goodbye June.
Peake brings her own recent television work to the pairing. She played Anne Lister in Gentleman Jack and appeared in Say Nothing, FX’s limited series about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Those credits do not tell us what her character will be like here, but they explain why the casting has drawn attention beyond the premise alone.
No other actors have been announced. That means the sisters’ relationship is the only piece of character information Netflix has put forward, and it is probably the part to watch when more casting arrives. The story can work as a chase, but its pressure will come from how the two women respond to the same mistake.
Jack Thorne follows Adolescence with another Netflix thriller
Jack Thorne is writing The Unheard. He co-created and wrote Adolescence with Stephen Graham, the four-episode Netflix drama that followed a family and a police investigation after a schoolboy is accused of murder. The connection is behind the scenes; The Unheard is a separate story with a different director and cast.
Thorne is also an executive producer on the new series, alongside Winslet and Graham. That gives The Unheard a direct link to a recent Netflix success without turning it into a follow-up. The premise is smaller and more focused than Adolescence’s investigation, putting the audience beside two people trying to stay ahead of the consequences of one decision.
The announcement does not promise the same formal style or tone as Adolescence. Netflix has only identified The Unheard as a brand-new television drama. Any expectation of continuous-shot episodes, a similar structure, or a shared universe would be speculation.
Mounia Akl directs the five-episode series
Mounia Akl will direct The Unheard. The Lebanese filmmaker made the feature Costa Brava, Lebanon, and her work has also included short films and television projects. The announcement pairs her with Thorne for all five episodes of the limited drama, according to reporting after Netflix’s slate reveal.
Warp Films, Matriarch, and Plan B are producing the series. Warp is behind projects such as The Virtues and Help, while Plan B has produced film and television projects including The Underground Railroad and Women Talking. The companies give the production a clear British drama base, though the story details remain limited.
There is no production start date beyond the planned 2027 window. Netflix has not said where filming will take place, whether the five episodes will be released together, or whether the series will arrive worldwide at the same time.
When will The Unheard be released?
The Unheard does not have a Netflix release date. Production is expected to begin in 2027, so any launch month or season would be a guess. Netflix’s announcement places the project among its new UK commissions rather than its near-term release calendar.
There is also no trailer, episode-by-episode breakdown, rating, or confirmed supporting cast. The five-episode count is the most specific format detail available. As filming gets closer, the next useful updates should be the character names, additional casting, and the first official look at the sisters together.
The Unheard has a simple setup and plenty of room to complicate it
The first announcement gives the series one strong question without pretending to answer it: what made these sisters choose revenge, and what did they think would happen afterward? Winslet and Peake can carry a tense two-hander, but the show will need more than a chase to make five episodes feel complete.
The best version of this story would let the mistake change the sisters’ relationship as much as it changes their circumstances. Netflix has not shown enough to judge that yet. It has confirmed the premise, the leads, the creative team, and the production year; everything else is still waiting for the first piece of footage.
The Unheard joins Netflix’s growing slate of original thrillers. For another new Netflix series announcement, read our coverage of Bannerman, and see what we know about The Headlands House.
