People Are Only Just Discovering The 1990 Version Of The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale fans are just discovering the 1990 film version of the show, with some calling it their "favourite" yet".

Although many of us are more familiar with the Hulu version of the book adaptation, fans are starting to discover the 1990 film, which starred Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, Aidan Quinn and Elizabeth McGovern.

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While there are also theatre productions of The Handmaid's Tale, the movie - which is now available to watch on Amazon Prime Video in the US - was actually the first filmed adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel.

It follows the same storyline as the series - focusing on June Osborne (although in the movie, she's called Kate) as she tries to survive the brutal regime of Gilead.

Due to declining birth rates and a political coup that follows - extremists seize control of the country and begin an archaic and inhumane practice in which fertile women are forced to train as handmaids and bear the children of the infertile ruling families of Gilead.

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"Following a coup, America is a country still at war with itself and ruled by a repressive Bible-inspired regime," the synopsis explains.

"Past pollution means only 1 per cent of women can bear children, and female criminals found to be potential mothers are put into an institution to be indoctrinated. One such is Kate, who finds that there are others prepared to resist."

Fans discovering the movie for the first time have been loving it, with one writing online: "One of my fave versions. I saw it many years ago and was never able to locate it but as the series came out it appears possibly to have been re-released."

Meanwhile another called it a "must see" if you're a fan of both the TV series and the book.

In other major The Handmaid's Tale news, fans will be pleased to know that the TV show will be returning for a fifth season.

Announced in December, the exciting news was revealed in a Tweet on the show's official account, which saw cast members tease the filming of the fourth season as well as confirming the fifth.

You can read more about that here!

Topics: TV News, TV & Film, The Handmaid's Tale

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot. Get in touch at [email protected].

@lucedevine