Just three months after the final season of Outlander wrapped up, star Catríona Balfe is already returning to television. Apple TV just greenlit Ascension, a new series from director Alfonso Cuarón that Balfe will star in and executive produce, marking her return to horror for the first time since 2013’s Crush.
Ascension is inspired by Adam Nevill’s novel Last Days, and will be showrun by Saccharine director Natalie Erika James and Christian White, who will write the series alongside Cuarón and his brother Carlos. The series’ synopsis is as follows:
The one-hour psychological horror thriller follows Rose (Balfe), a relentless documentary filmmaker and recently divorced mother, brilliant at uncovering others’ truths but struggling to resolve her own. When Rose begins a project on a mysterious 20th-century cult known as the Church of Ascension, she finds unexpected refuge in its teachings – until she discovers something far more insidious beneath.
James will serve as lead director on the series, which Cuarón produces under his Esperanto Filmoj banner, as a part of his overall deal with Apple. The series is a follow-up to the Oscar winner’s acclaimed Apple TV series Disclaimer, which starred Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline. The series is also produced by James and White alongside Gabriela Rodriguez, Richard Schwartz, Carlos Cuarón, Steve Golin, David Levine, and Zack Hayden.
Cuarón has not directed since his work on Disclaimer, and Ascension marks the closest he’s gotten to horror since Children of Men in 2006. Balfe, on the other hand, has several horror credits under her belt, including Crush, as well as an appearance in J.J. Abrams’ Super 8. She is also set to work with Apple on the upcoming film Tenzing, which premieres this fall.
No release date has been set for Ascension. Stay tuned to FANGORIA for more updates.
