There are endless stories to be explored from the Second World War, and Netflix’s new upcoming release, Transatlantic, will be exploring one of these stories about a group of people who tried to rescue European people from persecution. It is created by Anna Winger & Daniel Hendler. The former also joins the crew as a producer along with Camille McCurry of Airlift Productions. This limited series will contain seven episodes and is based on the novel The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer. Episodes of this show will be directed by Stéphanie Chuat & Véronique Reymond and by Mia Meyer.
Transatlantic Cast
This show stars Gillian Jacobs, Lucas Englander, Cory Michael Smith, Ralph Amoussou, Deleila Piasko, Gregory Montel, Corey Stoll, Moritz Bleibtreu, Alexander Fehling, Jonas Nay, Lolita Chammah, Luke Thompson, Jodhi May, Rafaela Nicolay, Henriette Confurius, Yoli Fuller, Nadiv Molcho and Yulia Antoshchuk, alongside other cast members.
Transatlantic Plot/Synopsis
In the trailer, we see this group of friends, a part of the American Rescue Emergency Committee, who are making their way to Germany in all its colourful and contrasting beauty. The trailer shows all these people roaming around the country with their brilliantly coiffed hair and venues filled with opulence and extravaganza. While members of the committee walk amongst them, clearly, they are missing something when they visit these places.
In their efforts to start rescue missions from France, they have decided to bribe people and make others comfortable about the situation in the country. The Nazis are specific and brutal, telling French leaders that there is only one great country in Europe. It is entirely secondary whether France is taking the Jewish problem seriously or not. All of these people who work on the committee come with some baggage that they need to grapple with.
All of their personal problems become professional obstacles in getting rescue missions right. If they are not in the right headspace, then things can go terribly wrong. And rescue missions involve scared and persecuted people, so it would be better if they didn’t actively sabotage their plans. However, staying away from danger is not always possible. The police raid the hotels where the rescue missions occur, the guards stop taking bribes, and the time has come to up the game.
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Perhaps the most interesting insight from the trailer is one of the French guards asking about the difference between refugees and criminals. For people who see them as a threat, they will be nothing more than a problem, and right now, the American Rescue Emergency Committee is in deep water trying to wade out of it. This doesn’t change their mission, this doesn’t change their grit, but it will change their way of coming to the problem.
At a time when the rules are changing too quickly, these people try their best to do away with them completely. They choose to use their empathy and kindness, which drive them to commit to each other and this cause that they have undertaken. The time has come not for pushback but for outright revolution.
This show seems like a good exploration of what it means to be an immigrant and how identity and existence become debatable topics. While others debate your right to live, the Rescue Committee pools in their efforts to get them to a place where this wouldn’t be a question at all. If done with care, it could be a brilliant exploration of the depth of bigotry and the strength of the human spirit in the face of imminent chaos.
Transatlantic Release Date and Trailer
Transatlantic will be streaming on Netflix from April 7, 2023. What are you most excited to see in this series? Let us know in the comments below.
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