Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, rife with comedy and tragedy, is getting the series treatment on Netflix — 25 years after the National Book Award-winning novel became a runaway bestseller.
Starring Meryl Streep, The Corrections is a sharply comic portrait of a Midwestern family whose three unmoored adult siblings desperately resist their mother’s wish for one last Christmas together — each undone by the delusional ambitions that were supposed to save them from becoming their parents.
The series — from Paramount Television Studios — is directed by Academy Award, BAFTA, and Emmy winner Cord Jefferson (American Fiction, Watchmen), and written and adapted by Franzen. Streep serves as executive producer, alongside Jefferson, Franzen, Mark Roybal (Task, Mare of Easttown, No Country for Old Men), Paul Lee (Task, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Dickinson), and Nicole Clemens (Sexy Beast, Shantaram).
Let’s pack our bags, grab some tinsel, and emotionally prepare for a hearty serving of family dysfunction.
Franzen’s 2001 novel, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, follows Enid, Alfred, and their children, Gary, Chip, and Denise, during a particularly tense holiday gathering.
Gary might be clinically depressed. Chip lost his job and is floundering professionally. Denise is potentially caught up in an affair. Alfred’s struggling with dementia. Amid all their pain and many forks in the road, Enid is determined to deliver the best –– and potentially final — family Christmas.
Hailed as “spellbinding” by People and “brilliant” by The New York Observer, the novel was awarded a National Book Award in 2001.
“A book made of equal parts fury and humor, one that takes a dry-eyed look at our culture, at our pains and insecurities, while offering hope that, occasionally at least, we can reach some kind of understanding,” Publishers Weekly wrote. “This is, simply, a masterpiece.”
Streep (Don’t Look Up, Big Little Lies), a three-time Academy Award winner, stars as Enid. More casting details to come.
There’s no release date yet, but keep checking back here for the latest news.
