'The Woman in Cabin 10's Trailer Preps a Luxury Thriller

Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10 was not her debut novel; that honor goes to In a Dark, Dark Wood, which she published in 2015. However, it wasn't until Cabin 10, her second novel published a year later, that the British author broke out, with the book going straight to the top of multiple bestseller lists. While Cabin 10 is definitely the superior novel in terms of pace and plotting, both stories — and the six so far that have followed — are deeply old school throwbacks. Weekends deep in the English countryside, sudden random inheritances, and mysteries where a handful of people are trapped together on holiday as a murder strikes; these were Agatha Christie's bread and butter, and they're still gold a century on.

However, although British authors have been trying to create their best versions of Dame Agatha for decades, it wasn't until the last decade, and the rise of the billionaire class, that these new stories became as popular as they were when Christie first began writing them. That's because America in the 2020s and England in the 1920s have more in common than we'd like to admit. Both are crumbling empires waiting for one more war to kick out the final table leg and cause complete collapse. Both have a population studded with obscenely wealthy folks, while the rest of the population works service jobs, and a sense that order desperately needs to be restored by giving these terrible people their comeuppance.

Ware's novel has now been adapted for Netflix, and the first trailer for The Woman in Cabin 10 suggests it will be right at home next to the streaming service's Rian Johnson's Benoit Blanc/Knives Out films. Check it out.

Here's the film's synopsis:

While on board a luxury yacht for a travel assignment, a journalist witnesses a passenger thrown overboard late at night, only to be told that it didn't happen, as all passengers and crew are accounted for. Despite no one believing her, she continues to look for answers, putting her own life in danger. 

Knightley is joined by a star-studded lead cast, including Art Malik (Disclaimer), Pippa Bennett-Warner (Magpie Murders), Guy Pearce (A Spy Among Friends), Hannah Waddingham (Tom Jones), David Ajala (Star Trek: Discovery), Daniel Ings (The Gentlemen), and David Morrissey (Sherwood). The supporting cast includes Christopher Rygh (Granite Harbour), Kaya Scodelario (Wuthering Heights), Paul Kaye (Game of Thrones), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Surface), John Macmillan (House of the Dragon), Gitte Witt (The Spy), Lisa Loven Kongsli (A Letter for the King), and Ayọ̀ Owóyẹmi-Peters in her film debut.

Director Simon Stone (The Dig) is helming the feature film from a script he wrote with writers Joe Shrapnel & Anna Waterhouse. Executive producers include Debra Hayward, Ilda Diffley for SISTER, and Richard Hewitt.

The Woman in Cabin 10 will debut on Netflix on Friday, October 10, 2025.