Online stalking, a mysterious death, and an impostor take center stage in trailer for thriller series Chloe
How well do we really know the lives of the people we follow online, and how honestly do we present our own realities?
These are the questions posed by the trailer for upcoming Amazon Prime Video psychological thriller series Chloe, which debuted in the UK on BBC One in February. In it, we're introduced to Becky Green, played by The Crown's Erin Doherty, who is addicted to stalking her childhood friend Chloe Fairbourne's perfectly curated social media presence.
The trailer, above, teases Chloe's charmed life, adoring husband, and circle of high-achieving friends who are always just a click away. When Chloe suddenly dies, Becky assumes a new identity (telling a man who calls who her out, "I'd just like to decide how people see me") and infiltrates the enviable lives of Chloe's closest friends to find out what happened to her. Apparently, all is not as it seemed in Chloe's world, because Becky can be heard saying, "I just thought I knew what her life was, but I was completely wrong."
The series is created, written, and directed by Alice Seabright (writer/director of Netflix's Sex Education), who also serves as an executive producer. Seabright, who says she personally has a bad relationship with social media and doesn't use it, tells EW that the idea for the show all started with the character of Becky, not with the likes of Twitter or Instagram or Facebook. "I didn't particularly want to make a show that was about social media, but I think that the themes of comparison and trying to live up to an ideal that you can't ever quite live up to — and also the sense of projecting the image that people projected themselves and how it's quite different sometimes to the reality that's underneath — they're all things that social media absolutely taps into," Seabright admits. "And so it felt like making a show about those things in the contemporary world, it really needed to address social media."
Still, the creator says her way into the show is through Becky's eyes, who she calls "the heart" and "linchpin" of the series. "She's quite a challenging character. She challenges the audience's sympathies quite a lot. I was interested in writing about someone who uses lying and storytelling as a defense mechanism, to not really show her true self and keep a distance from people, and then looking at where that comes from in her," Seabright says, adding that she was also interested in exploring "intense female friendships" that help to form one's sense of identity from a young age.
Seabright likens the six-episode limited series to The Talented Mr. Ripley — "because it's an imposter story, and someone trying to keep up an unsustainable situation" — and the Daphne du Maurier novel Rebecca, for also being about "one character's relationship with someone who's gone, but who still casts a very powerful shadow over things."
Luke Varley/BBC/Mam Tor Productions Erin Doherty, who is in every scene of 'Chloe' as Becky Green, is the "linchpin" of the show, according to creator Alice Seabright. "I think what Erin does so amazingly, is that she gets you to really get under her skin and to understand her, and even empathize with her and feel like you can kind of understand what it's like to live in the world as Becky, even though she sometimes does quite indefensible things," says Seabright.
"It tells the story of that obsession, where it comes from, how it came about, and also just follows Becky, as she gets into increasingly dangerous positions actually, as she infiltrates the life of and the friendship group that are left behind after the death of Chloe, and tries to understand what her life really was," Seabright explains.
In addition to Doherty, Chloe stars Billy Howle, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Jack Farthing, and Brandon Micheal Hall. The series was critically acclaimed across the pond, and as it nears its worldwide bow, Seabright hopes that more people go along for the ride. "I love the character of Becky, and I hope that people can connect with her, despite her flaws and her complexities," Seabright says. "It's a show that probably, I would say, asks a lot of questions, doesn't always answer them. I hope it raises questions about the stories that we all tell ourselves about who we are and who other people are and how they kind of shape our sense of identity."
Chloe hits Amazon Prime Video on June 24. Watch the trailer above.
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