World War II continues to be explored by artists in interesting and varied ways even after all these years, and you may add Prime Video’s new series to the list. The difference this time around is that the show is universally acclaimed, with a 100% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. Based on that and other indicators, it looks like audiences will unanimously love it, too.The Narrow Road to the Deep Northis the title in question, a five-part miniseries releasing April 18 on Prime Video, and is an adaptation of the 2014 Man Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name by Richard Flanagan. It’s directed by Justin Kurzel, who had recent success withThe Order, and was a big hit at the 2025 Berlinale.
The Narrow Road to the Deep Northfollows a man named Dorrigo Evans (portrayed by Jacob Elordi in the series, and by Ciarán Hinds as the older Dorrigo), mainly during World War II and his time as a prisoner of war, but also in “the present day,” 1989. While it will undoubtedly bring to mindThe Bridge on the River Kwai, what with the POWs being forced to build the Burma railway, the series is much more grounded, gritty, and brutal.MovieWeb’s Greg Archer writes in his review:
“This is a passionately told war epic that is oftentimes more quietly effective than boisterous and in-your-face. It also takes its time to unravel, which will require some patience for the instant-gratification crowd. Either way, it’s a profound work that is worthy of attention […]The Narrow Road to the Deep Northstands out as one of the best televised war stories that has emerged in the past few years. The entire cast is pitch perfect, helping create a believable character study of a captivating man riddled with guilt over his choices.”
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The Narrow Road to the Deep North
The story of Dorrigo Evans, an army surgeon whose short but forbidden affair with his uncle’s wife sustains and haunts him through his darkest days in a Thai-Burmese prisoner of war camp in WWII.
MovieWeb’s Greg Archer is hardly the only critic heaping praise on the new Prime Video series. The wonderful Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardiancalls it, “A big, bold, complicatedly sensual epic of wartime anguish and personal reckoning,” adding, “Kurzel handles the material with confidence and storytelling verve and gets fervent, focused performances from Elordi, Hinds and Young.“David Rooney ofThe Hollywood Reporterwrites:
“Following Nitram and The Order, Justin Kurzel goes from strength to strength with his riveting first detour into episodic television, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. While a current of unflinching violence runs through the director’s work, seldom if ever has the blunt shock of bloodletting played in such haunting counterpart to the pathos of brutalized humanity as it does in this adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s 2014 Booker Prize-winning novel. There’s a lingering soulfulness here that feels new to Kurzel’s work, distilled in an intensely moving lead performance from Jacob Elordi.”
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Tim Robey ofThe Daily Telegraphsaw the first two episodes at the Berlin International Film Festival, and wrote of the show’s second half, “The series is bound to hit ever harder, and it would take superhuman stamina to consider bingeing it: instead it’ll be one to space out between deep breaths. Hinds is already a mighty force in it, but we wait for the biggest tests regarding Elordi. His laconic restraint, which has so much potential, needs to judder and implode to give the whole story a core. If he gets us there, it will be unmissable.”
So you don’t want to missThe Narrow Road to the Deep North. Stream it on Prime Video through the link below when it becomes available on August 04, 2025.
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