When Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North first landed in bookshops in 2013, it was heralded as a literary triumph, an intricate, deeply felt portrait of love, memory, and the scars of war.
More than a decade later, its screen adaptation arrives with a similar ambition: to move, to confront, and to connect.
Now out on Prime Video, the five-part limited series is both sweeping in scope and intimate in its emotional depth.
Directed by Justin Kurzel (Nitram, Macbeth) and adapted by Shaun Grant (True History of the Kelly Gang), it follows Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans (played across time by Jacob Elordi and Ciarán Hinds) through three defining periods of his life, his days as a war hero and surgeon, his memories of a brief but life-altering love affair, and his time as a prisoner on the Thai-Burma Railway.
It’s a towering piece of television, haunting, humane, and told with an urgency that feels both timely and timeless.
Jacob Elordi in a still for The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
A long road to the screen
The journey from page to screen was anything but straightforward. Jo Porter, now managing director at Curio Pictures, first secured the rights in 2017. Several years, and career changes, later, the project found new life in 2021, buoyed by the backing of Prime Video’s local originals team and executive producer Rachel Gardner.
“It wasn’t a linear journey,” Porter says. “It took eight years, shifting roles, and a lot of love left behind before it came back around. But once it did, it felt like serendipity.”
Jacob Elordi’s casting, announced at a time when his star was rising globally, was pivotal. “He was the right man at the right age,” Porter reflects. “It just clicked.”
A story that cuts across generations
While rooted in the past, The Narrow Road to the Deep North speaks to modern anxieties, about identity, legacy, and the quiet costs of survival. It’s a story that carries weight with those who know the book, but also surprises with its relevance to a younger audience.
“This is a story about young people facing enormous adversity,” says Sarah Christie, head of local originals Australia and New Zealand. “Casting Jacob Elordi wasn’t just about recognition, it was about truth. These were young men.”
The show’s tonal balance, literary and lyrical, yet grounded and accessible, gives it the kind of emotional breadth that’s increasingly rare in Australian drama. Kurzel’s signature style brings the grit; Grant’s adaptation brings the humanity.
A reminder of what local drama can be
Shot across multiple timelines and locations, the series spares little in its commitment to authenticity. The cast, which also includes Odessa Young, Olivia DeJonge, Simon Baker, and Thomas Weatherall, undertook significant physical transformations to reflect the lived experience of POWs.
“It wasn’t just a makeover,” Gardner says. “They put their bodies on the line to get it right.”
That dedication pays off. The result is a show that doesn’t just look impressive, it feels lived in, anchored by performances that simmer with restraint and vulnerability. Elordi, in particular, delivers a performance far removed from his pop culture persona: tender, raw, and deeply internal.
While The Narrow Road to the Deep North is very much its own story, it also arrives at a moment of quiet momentum for Australian screen storytelling. Prime Video has been steadily investing in local originals, from Deadloch to Top End Bub, and this series feels like the culmination of that growing ambition.
There’s also a broader sense of confidence in the creative partnership between platforms and producers. “It’s about trust,” Christie says. “We backed the team, and they delivered something that’s both epic and deeply personal.”
And although it will undoubtedly draw in viewers for its period setting, literary pedigree, or breakout stars, the series is ultimately doing something more subtle: reminding audiences, both here and abroad, of what Australian stories are capable of when given room to breathe.
“This is a story about survival,” says Christie. “About love that sustains us. And I think that’s something everyone can relate to, whether you lived through the war, read the novel, or discovered Jacob Elordi on TikTok.”
For longtime Flanagan fans, history lovers, or those coming to it completely fresh, The Narrow Road to the Deep North is essential viewing. It’s a quietly monumental work, and proof that Australian drama, when it trusts its voice, can leave a mark that lingers well beyond the final frame.