James R | On 16, Aug 2021

Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij are reuniting for Retreat, a new series for FX.

The OA creators will team up once again for the project, which was confirmed by FX during its virtual summer TCA press tour.

The series tells the story of Darby Hart, a Gen Z amateur sleuth who must solve a murder mystery at a billionaire’s secluded retreat before the killer takes another life. Chairman John Landgraf said that a “a pretty good chunk of it” is set in an “ultra luxury hotel adjacent to a glacier in a very forbidding northern place”, while another chunk “takes place in the desert”.

The series has been given a green light by FX, with Marling and Batmanglij writing and directing the series, as well as exec-producing alongside Andrea Sperling (Transparent).

“We absolutely loved what Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij came to us with, which is radical reconceptualisation of whodunit with a really, really original set of characters, particularly a really strong and original young woman at the center of the story whose back story and present-day story form a strong emotional core,” Landgraf said in a statement. “There obviously is a mystery unfold too. It’s a distinctive and unique show that is not that easy to produce.”

“Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij have delivered a suspenseful story that updates the classic mystery genre with a bold new character for our times,” added Gina Balian, FX’s President of Original Programming. “We are thrilled that Brit and Zal and the rest of the creative team will bring this series to life with their unique points of view and care.”

The project certainly comes with a certifiable track record of unique films and TV series created by the pair, from The Sound of My Voice and The East to Netflix’s The OA.

Watch this space for confirmation on where the project will premiere in the UK, with BBC Two holding the rights to FX programmes but that deal predating the launch of Star on Disney+, which is home to such adult programming as The Americans and Y: The Last Man.

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