The Survivors on Netflix is the new murder mystery everyone will be watching this weekend.

If you're searching for a prestige series with an Australian twist, say no more. Netflix's The Survivors is here to sort out your weekend plans.

Premiering globally on 6 June, this six-part limited series is a haunting blend of murder mystery and family drama, set against the wild, windswept coastline of Tasmania.

The book adaptation is created, written, and executive produced by Tony Ayres, the powerhouse behind acclaimed dramas like Clickbait, Stateless, and Fires.

The series is framed by events that began fifteen years ago: a devastating storm struck Evelyn Bay, claiming the lives of three young people, including Finn Elliott, Kieran's older brother.

A teenage Kieran survived — but has been haunted by guilt and shame ever since.

Returning to Evelyn Bay with his partner Mia and their baby daughter to help his mother care for his father with dementia, Kieran has to confront his past.

But then the body of a young woman, Bronte, is discovered on the beach, and old wounds are reopened. As the police investigation unfolds, secrets long buried by the tight-knit community begin to surface.

Watch the trailer for it. Post continues after video.

The cast of Netflix's The Survivors features Medici's Charlie Vickers as Kieran Elliott, Yerin Ha (yes, the new lead in Bridgerton!) as Mia Chang, The Couple Next Door's Jessica De Gouw as Olivia Birch, along with Kieran's parents, played by After The Party actress Robyn Malcolm as Verity Elliott and Harrow's Damien Garvey as Brian Elliott.

Ahead of the premiere, I sat down with Robyn and Damien to discuss the entrancing new limited series.

The Survivors is adapted from Jane Harper's acclaimed 2020 novel of the same name. Harper, best known for The Dry and Force of Nature, is beloved for her atmospheric Australian mysteries that explore the ripple effects of trauma and loss.

But both of the actors had not read the book before getting the parts. "I had never read the book and I still haven't because I know what happens now," Robyn admitted. "Book and TV, they're so profoundly different and you focus on different things… I just chose not to because I'm a simple person and it would have confused my brain."

Damien agreed that he didn't want to get swept up in a distraction. "The story was the screenplay. I really wanted to focus on that because there's so much in a novel that you'd be feeling you're missing out on… we're making the screenplay, so just sort of stayed with that."

The series weaves together past and present, exploring how unresolved grief and guilt can shape — and shatter — lives.

The emotional core of the story is the fractured relationship between Kieran and his mother, Verity, as well as the community's collective struggle to move on from tragedy.

Robyn as Verity in The Survivors. Image: Netflix.

Robyn was drawn to Verity's complexities as a person. "I really like characters who are a bit of a mess. There's a chaos of emotion going on in there," she said.

"That to me feels very human and very fallible. It's something that I've not played before, and Verity for me was just an amazing mix of grief and love and rage and fear and guilt. She was not behaving in a linear direction at all… she would be incredibly loving in one scene and then awfully hateful in another.

"She's so contradictory, and I loved that about her."

Damien considered the role of Brian, a father with dementia, to be a challenge he wanted to tackle. "Many people's families are affected by dementia, and it's not just the sufferer, it's the carer and all the family [who is affected]," he said.

"He was losing his mind, but he'd also lost a son. The whole family has had this grief in the past and then this slow-burning grief in the present, and neither is being dealt with. They're all different versions of a coiled spring."

Filming of the series took place across Tasmania, capturing the region's dramatic landscapes and coastal backdrops — giving an effective gothic atmosphere to the show.

"The ocean plays this massive role, like another character," Robyn noted. "The sea is an unforgiving, dangerous, dangerous place, right?"

"You also have the contrast — it's so beautiful, so isolated and an idyllic lifestyle," added Damien. "That's the same thing with the families with these storms going on within the community because of what happened… but we don't talk about the storm."

Yerin Ha as Mia in The Survivors. Image: Netflix.

Along with the leads, the ensemble cast is incredible, boasting every iconic Australian actor and actress you could imagine. This includes Tangle's Catherine McClements as Trish, Offspring's Don Hany as George Barlin and Blue Heelers star Martin Sacks as Julian Gilroy.

"I mean, Catherine McClements and all those guys, they're all really bloody nice," Robyn said about working with such an all-star cast.

"Talent doesn't necessarily have to mean you're an a**hole. Talent is actually about being collaborative, generous, committed and giving… they were all seriously good-hearted human beings."

The performances in this are about as good as it gets — not just for Australian TV, but any TV performance. The series feels like a prestige television experience, similar tonally to The Mare Of Easttown or Sharp Objects in the way it delicately tackles the lingering effects of buried trauma and the ways grief manifests as we get older.

The chemistry between the actors is authentic, especially in the case of Robyn and Damien as husband and wife, Verity and Brian. Unsurprisingly, the actors were not strangers to playing opposite each other as love interests on-screen.

"We worked at Harrow together for two seasons and in Season 2, we became romantically linked," Robyn said. "When we found out that each other were playing the roles in this, we were like, 'Yes!', and we're both dog people, so we've spent quite a long time not really talking about the work, but just talking about our dogs."

Netflix's The Survivors is more than meets the eye. Starting as a classic whodunnit, it quickly evolves into an utterly compelling examination of grief, guilt, shame, trauma and the coping mechanisms we learn to survive.

Watch all six episodes streaming on Netflix from 6 June.

Feature image: Netflix.