'The Woman in Cabin 10' to Check into Netflix in October

In the decade since the streaming revolution began, meaty roles for women actors have been on the rise. One of the quiet side benefits of the twin rise of Prestige TV and Peak TV is that the lines that once divided actors into "TV stars" and "Movie stars" have largely vanished, making it easier for actors who spent their lives in one tier to transition to another. Actors like Kate Winslet, Nicole Kidman, and Catherine Zeta-Jones have all discovered that their careers don't have to end simply because they've reached a certain age; they can instead star in a high-profile TV series or a straight-to-streaming film (or both!). 

Add Keira Knightley to the list of those who have discovered a new freedom and career renaissance thanks to streaming. Knightley first broke out as a teen star in Bend It Like Beckham before going on to define Lizzie Bennet for a generation in 2005's Pride & Prejudice. She spent most of the 2010s immersed in the Disney blockbuster machine, working on the Pirates of the Caribbean films, only to have her career crash to a halt in 2020.  She immediately switched to small streaming films before finally announcing a deal with Netflix, which included the lead in Black Doves and starring in the long-gestating adaptation of The Woman in Cabin 10.

Based on Ruth Ware’s bestselling 2016 novel of the same name, The Woman in Cabin 10 has been in development hell since 2017, taking an eight-year route to the screen. However, Ware feels the world has only changed enough to make her story more topical than when she originally wrote it. “The fear of not being believed is perennial," she said in an interview with Netflix. "Cabin 10, at its heart, is about a woman who experiences something wrong, reports it truthfully, and isn’t taken seriously because of who she is.”

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 that includes PBS fan favorites like Guy Pearce (A Spy Among Friends), Hannah Waddingham (Tom Jones), David Ajala (Star Trek: Discovery), Daniel Ings (The Gentlemen), and David Morrissey (Sherwood). 

The film co-stars Art Malik (Disclaimer), Pippa Bennett-Warner (Magpie Murders), 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 (The 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.