Nicole Kidman and a raw portrait of motherhood : trailer delivers the gut punch
The new trailer for Prime Video’s “Expats” lands with a jolt, centering on Nicole Kidman as a mother grappling with a family fracture that refuses to heal. The footage pivots on intimate moments, tight closeups, and the unsettling quiet that follows a life upended, signaling a character study anchored in motherhood, memory, and the cost of belonging far from home.
Context is clear from the first frames. “Expats”, created and directed by Lulu Wang and adapted from Janice Y. K. Lee’s 2016 novel “The Expatriates”, tracks three women in Hong Kong whose lives converge after a crisis. The series premieres on Prime Video on 26 January 2024, rolling out across six episodes, with the trailer teasing a story less about headlines and more about the ordinary minutes that define a parent after loss.
Inside the footage : what the Expats trailer actually shows
The main idea is simple and devastating. A mother, played by Nicole Kidman, navigates a city that feels both glittering and unforgiving, while motherhood colors every decision. The trailer balances crowded streets with quiet apartments, implying that the hardest conversations often happen behind closed doors. It suggests the show will live where grief and resilience meet, a place television rarely sits in for long.
Viewers often expect a mystery to hand out clues. The trailer resists that, tipping attention toward relationships instead of plot mechanics. The cast surrounding Kidman matters, and the footage makes room for them : Ji-young Yoo, Sarayu Blue, Jack Huston, and Brian Tee each signal distinct perspectives on class, culture, and care in a city built on speed. The promise is an ensemble that breathes, not just a star vehicle.
Key facts ground the picture. “Expats” premiered its first look at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023, a debut that framed the project as prestige television with cinema instincts. Prime Video sets the global launch for 26 January 2024, with weekly releases through 23 February 2024, six episodes in total. The source material, published in 2016, sold internationally and placed motherhood, privilege, and displacement at its core, which the trailer leans into rather than away from.
Dates, episodes, where to watch : the essentials for Nicole Kidman’s series
The middle stretch of the trailer highlights craft choices that explain the tone. Lulu Wang favors long takes and grounded sound design, keeping viewers close to how a parent actually hears a room when worry never leaves. That approach aligns with her feature work, and it tends to lift performances that play in the quiet spaces. The show appears to use Hong Kong not as postcard backdrop but as a living system, one that can push families together or apart.
Release timeline is straightforward. Prime Video streams “Expats” worldwide starting Friday 26 January 2024. One episode arrives each week, with the finale dated Friday 23 February 2024. The season runs six episodes, each designed to carry a complete arc while advancing the wider tapestry. For those tracking production, the project adapts Janice Y. K. Lee’s novel faithfully in its focus on three women, while the series format gives room for side characters whose lives intersect with childcare, domestic labor, and the economics that sit behind daily parenting.
There is a practical takeaway too. If the trailer leaves one missing piece, it is the exact scope of each woman’s storyline beyond the central family crisis. That choice reads intentional, preserving momentum for episode one. The solution is simple : start at launch, watch weekly, and let the character work unfold at its intended pace. For anyone drawn to layered portrayals of motherhood and identity, with Nicole Kidman steering a tightly crafted ensemble, this is definitly the one to press play on the day it drops.