Amazon hours from dropping ‘chilling’ Nicole Kidman serial killer thriller
The hardest-working woman in TV has another credit to add to her IMDb this week.
There are four new Nicole Kidman dramas coming in 2026 and the first arrives on Amazon Prime Video tomorrow.
Based on Patricia Cornwell’s series of novels about a criminal pathologist who brings plenty of baggage to the job, Scarpetta stars Kidman as the woman in question.
Dr Kay Scarpetta has a reputation in the world of forensics, but the grind of performing one autopsy after another is (understandably) getting to her. Just as she’s returned to take on the chief medical examiner spot for Virginia.
From the writer behind episodes of Lost and Barry, the show weaves back and forth between two timelines, in the present day with Kidman playing newly-returned Dr Scarpetta, and her younger, scrappy self in the 1990s, where the pathologist is played by Rosy McEwen.
Elsewhere on the starry cast, we have fellow screen icon Jamie Lee Curtis as Kay’s sardonic sister Dorothy (JLC doesn’t really look like a Dorothy, but ignore that), The Mentalist lead Simon Baker, Bafta’s rap star extraordinaire Ariana DeBose and owner of a new bearded dragon Bobby Cannavale.
In the present-day timeline for the eight-parter, Dr Scarpetta is investigating a particularly gruesome set of murders, which look like the work of a serial killer and even bear freakish similarities to a case from the start of her career.
As the thriller’s trailer teases, ‘The case that made her could break her.’
The official Amazon synopsis of the show described the eight-parter as ‘chilling’, writing: ‘With skilled hands and an unnerving eye, this unrelenting medical examiner is determined to serve as the voice of the victims, unmask a serial killer, and prove that her career-making case from 28 years prior isn’t also her undoing.
What other shows can I watch on Amazon Prime?
- The Paradise. The show follows the lives and relationships of those who shop and trade in and around England’s first-ever department store.
- Young Sherlock. Guy Ritchie’s highly anticipated new series is about Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved literary detective.
- Outlander. The period drama’s time-travelling final season arrives.
‘As Scarpetta pursues justice, she must navigate complicated relationships, including the fraught dynamic with her sister, confront long-held professional and personal grudges, and face secrets that threaten to unravel everything she’s built.’
Does Scarpetta sound like one for you?
Kidman is never one to do jobs in half measures, so it might come as no surprise that to prepare for the part of Dr Scarpetta, she learned to conduct an actual autopsy.
Speaking to Jimmy Fallon on his talk show, she shared: ‘If I needed to, I could do the autopsy. I can remove all the organs. I can name them all.
‘I can remove the lungs, the liver and the gallbladder and the intestines.’
‘I worked with an incredible medical examiner, and I studied him,’ she revealed.
Scarpetta launches on Amazon Prime from March 11.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE: David Morrissey has one request for ITV fans bingeing his ‘intoxicating’ crime thriller
MORE: The Capture season 2 ending explained as BBC thriller returns after four years
MORE: ‘Big, bold, brash’ new sci-fi film tops Netflix charts in just one day