A decade from now, a young woman taps into her talent — she is scary-good at VR games, to the point that wealthy clients hire her to play in their stead — to scrape up cash for her family. The Peripheral, which stars Chloë Grace Moretz as the gaming whiz, asks: what if that futuristic VR world was actually real?
The new series from Prime Video is based on cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson’s 2014 novel and counts Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy among its executive producers, so you already have an idea of what its vision of the future will look like: equal parts sleek and bleak. Thanks to New York Comic Con, we have a new trailer for the series, which gives us our best glimpse yet at what to expect.
Here’s the official synopsis for the series: “Flynne Fisher lives in the rural American South, working at the local 3D printing shop while earning much needed extra money playing VR games for rich people. One night she dons a headset and finds herself in futuristic London — a sleek and mysterious world, alluringly different from her own hardscrabble existence. But this isn’t like any game she’s ever played before: Flynne begins to realise it isn’t virtual reality… it’s real. Someone in London, 70 years in the future, has found a way to open a door to Flynne’s world. And as utterly beguiling as London is… it’s also dangerous. As Flynne searches to discover who has connected their worlds, and for what purpose, her presence here sets dangerous forces into motion… forces intent on destroying Flynne and her family in her own world.”
Created and showrun by Scott B. Smith (A Simple Plan), The Peripheral’s cast also includes Jack Reynor (Midsommar), Gary Carr, JJ Feild, and T’Nia Miller (The Haunting of Bly Manor). It premieres October 21 on Prime Video.
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