I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to Netflix for casting Keira Knightley, the queen of period dramas, in a modern-day story set in London — and in a tense, twist-filled spy series, at that.
In all seriousness, I feel like it’s been a minute since we’ve gotten a top-tier spy drama from Netflix, which, like most of the streamers as well as the major movie studios, tends to favor trope-filled silliness in espionage stories in lieu of realism or at least the appearance of it. Black Doves, created and written by Giri/Haji‘s Joe Barton, thankfully looks like it has all the makings of a stylish spy drama for grown-ups, especially with Knightley given a chance to kick some ass based on the series’ first trailer that Netflix released today (below).
The series, coming on Dec. 5, stars Knightley as a mother, wife, and professional spy named Helen Webb, and she’s been slipping the secrets of her politician husband to a shadowy group called the Black Doves for over a decade. When Helen’s secret lover Jason is assassinated, Helen’s spymaster calls in her old friend (played by Ben Whishaw) to keep her safe. Per Netflix, he’s a “suave, Champagne-drinking assassin. But having been out of the game since a failed job with disastrous consequences, he’s come home to a London that has moved on without him. As his past threatens to catch up with him, his task is to protect Helen as she investigates who killed Jason and why.
“Together, they set off on a mission that will lead them to uncover a vast, interconnected conspiracy. One that links the murky underworld of London to a looming geopolitical crisis — and leads them to question the cost of the moral choices they’ve made.”
One of the big draws here is that Black Doves shows off Knightley like you’ve never seen her before. Fierce, bloodied, and smoking bad guys with ruthless ease, she’s like a feral tigress when pistols with silencers are pointed at her face and her family threatened. Basically, Knightley’s Webb has a “warm heart and blood on (her) hands.” Spies, criminals, crooked politicians, the show is basically a grab bag of all the good stuff you want in an espionage drama.
Read more about Black Doves here.
