Everything We Know About Unchosen, Netflix’s Upcoming British Cult Thriller

Religious cults are endlessly intriguing. Maybe that’s why there are so many stellar TV shows about them. Think Under the Banner of Heaven, Unorthodox, The Vow, Wild Wild Country… though they all seem quite far removed from Britain. But with the upcoming series of Strike set to centre on a cult here in the UK and a new original series from Netflix on the horizon, it seems this issue is creeping closer to home.

Led by Molly Windsor and Asa Butterfield, like many of Netflix’s original series (including Butterfield’s Sex Education), Unchosen has a palpable Americana to it – but it does star a stellar British cast. Set to land on 21 April, here’s everything we know so far about Unchosen.

Molly Windsor as Rosie & Fra Fee as Sam in Unchosen. (Netflix)

Unchosen: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

Written and created by Julie Gearey – known for penning Prisoner’s Wives and Intergalactic – Unchosen is a six-part psychological thriller delving into a conservative religious sect.

We centre on Rosie (Molly Windsor), a devoted mother to Grace (Olivia Pickering) and wife to the more domineering Adam (Butterfield). They live in a quiet, cloistered Christian community helmed by religious leader Mr Phillip (Christopher Eccleston). As he intones in the trailer, ‘We are blessed to live our lives within this community, where love binds us and our families flourish, where our women nurture, and our men provide, safe from the temptations of the world outside and from the evil that lies within.’ Not totally ideal for 21st century feminism, then.

Fra Fee as Sam and Asa Butterfield as Adam in Unchosen. (Netflix)

But when Rosie’s path crosses with that of escaped convict Sam (Fra Fee), she is propelled on a journey of sexual awakening and emancipation. And as cracks begin to show in her marriage with Adam, Sam seems like a guiding light out of a cult that might not have her best interests at heart after all. But of course, Sam has a murky past, too. So what’s safer: a cult you know, or a convict you don’t?

Watch the trailer below for a taste of the action.

Asa Butterfield as Adam in Unchosen. (Netflix)

The Cast

It’s a stacked cast, helmed by Windsor, Butterfield and Fee as Rosie, Adam and Sam respectively. Named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit in 2017, Windsor is best known for her BAFTA-winning role in Three Girls (2017), though you may also recognise her from Traces (2019) and She Said (2022).

Meanwhile Butterfield, now 29 years old, is known for everything from his child-star days starring in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008) and Hugo (2011), to the more recent festive romcom Your Christmas or Mine? (2022). While he is perhaps most recognisable for his starring role as Otis in Netflix’s Sex Education (2019–23), Butterfield rarely takes TV roles, with Unchosen clearly the exception.

Concluding the leading trio is Northern Irish star Fra Fee, known for his roles in Rebel Moon (2023), Prime Target (2025) and the BBC miniseries Lost Boys and Fairies (2024). They are joined by British TV stalwarts Siobhan Finneran (Happy Valley, Time, Protection) and Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who, 28 Days Later, The A Word) as cult leaders Mr and Mrs Phillips to round out the cast.

Christopher Eccleston as Mr Phillips in Unchosen. (Netflix)

The full cast is as follows:

• Molly Windsor as Rosie
• Asa Butterfield as Adam
• Fra Fee as Sam
• Siobhan Finneran as Mrs. Phillips
• Christopher Eccleston as Mr. Phillips
• Olivia Pickering as Grace

Siobhan Finneran as Mrs Phillips in Unchosen. (Netflix)

Is It Based On A Real Cult?

We’re told the cult we will see in Unchosen is totally fictional – but it does bear resemblances to the Bruderhof, a real Christian sect with two branches in southern England, each about 300-strong. Having spawned out of Germany in the 1920s, at the Bruderhof (‘brotherhood’) members live like early Christians, sharing all of their belongings and income. Women are instructed to dress modestly, including head coverings, while everyone should avoid clothing that is provocative, sexual or indicates status or wealth. Former members have described it as a ‘total man’s world’.

We are told that Butterfield watched the BBC documentary Inside the Bruderhof in preparation for his role as Adam in Unchosen. ‘I remember there was this one man who was so precise and considered in everything he did that he was a bit like a robot,’ the actor tells Netflix. ‘Even walking up the steps, he would take it one at a time, almost as though he was scared of falling.’

Molly Windsor as Rosie in Unchosen. (Netflix)

While cults feel far removed from British life, while researching for Unchosen, creator and writer Julie Gearey discovered there are at least 2,000 cults operating in the UK – and an academic specialist she works with thinks there could be many more. ‘There are tiny cults that are no more than an extended family,’ Geary says. ‘When society is going through a period of extreme uncertainty – like we are now – that’s when these cults rise up.

‘I think there’s a real comfort and support in these groups,’ the writer adds. ‘You don’t have to worry about where you’re going to live, what you eat, whether you’ve got any friends. It’s a very, very secure social structure … When it works, it really works, but if you start to question their methods… That’s where the problems start.’

Gearey spoke to real people who have escaped cults to inform Unchosen, tracking them down through social media and on online forums. She tells Netflix: ‘What we found was that quite a lot of them were traumatized. It was important to reassure them as much as we could that, firstly, nobody watching the show would ever recognize them and, secondly, that whatever they had to say about the emotional experience of being involved, we would try to respect and reflect as truthfully as possible within the show.’

Asa Butterfield as Adam and Fra Fee as Sam in Unchosen. (Netflix)

Where Was It Filmed?

Expect sweeping pastoral beauty in Unchosen – with evil lurking underneath, of course. The full series was filmed in the UK, though we don’t know the exact details on locations just yet. Stay tuned for more.

Molly Windsor as Rosie in Unchosen. (Netflix)

Release Date

All six episodes of Unchosen will land on Netflix on 21 April 2026.