What if the Axis powers had won WWII? How different would life be if Americans were suddenly under German and Japanese rule? That’s the premise of sci-fi author Philip K. Dick’s 1962 Hugo Award–winning novel, The Man in the High Castle. Adapted for television by Frank Spotnitz (The Indian Detective) and Ridley Scott (Alien), the dystopian series follows everyday citizens and their oppressors as they adjust to their new reality. But amid the horrors that surround the denizens of the former United States, a resistance movement is growing. Keep reading for more on the Emmy Award–winning show, which stars Alexa Davalos, Rufus Sewell, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. 

When will The Man in the High Castle be released?

Stream the entire series now.

Who’s in the cast of The Man in the High Castle?

• Alexa Davalos (The Punisher) as Juliana Crain
• Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat) as John Smith
• Joel de la Fuente (Hemlock Grove) as Takeshi Kido
• Chelah Horsdal (Firefly Lane) as Helen Smith
• Brennan Brown (Focus) as Robert Childan
• DJ Qualls (Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities) as Ed McCarthy
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Blue Eye Samurai) as Nobusuke Tagomi
• Rupert Evans (Hellboy) as Frank Frink
• Luke Kleintank (FBI: International) as Joe Blake
• Jason O’Mara (Hypnotic) as Wyatt Price
• Bella Heathcote (Pieces of Her) as Nicole Dörmer
• Callum Keith Rennie (The Umbrella Academy) as Gary Connell
• Michael Gaston (The Land of Steady Habits) as Mark Sampson
• Frances Turner (After We Fell) as Bell Mallory

What happens in The Man in the High Castle?

It’s 1962, and the United States no longer exists. It’s been years since President Franklin D. Roosevelt was assassinated, a nuclear bomb wiped out DC, and WWII ended with America falling to the Axis alliance. The former US is split into two parts: the Japanese Pacific States and the American Reich, with the Rockies serving as the Neutral Zone. Those who resist their Axis rulers are sent to camps, and even those who comply are treated as second-class citizens. Despite all this, there are still those who believe in a better future and actively work to free their fellow Americans from Nazi colonizers. 

Juliana Crane (Davalos) is not one of those people. She lives a quiet life as a martial arts student in San Francisco and seems to have accepted the Imperial Japanese way of life. But that all changes when Juliana’s sister, Trudy (Conor Leslie), hands her a package — said to be of the gravest importance — for safekeeping. Moments later, Trudy is shot and killed by the Kempeitai, the brutal police force that rules the JPS with an iron fist. Desperate to understand why Trudy was taken from her, Juliana opens the package with her boyfriend, Frank (Evans), only to discover a film reel that shows what seems impossible: the Allies winning WWII. 

Juliana has a million questions. America surrendered — how could this newsreel exist ? How did it end up in Trudy’s hands? What did her sister really die for? Juliana realizes that her sister was part of the resistance, and decides to take on her unfinished mission in hopes of finding answers. Ignoring Frank’s pleas to turn the reel in to the authorities, Juliana heads off on a dangerous journey across the country to deliver the footage to Trudy’s contact, Joe Blake (Kleintank). But her quest for the truth puts her right at the center of a conspiracy she can barely comprehend.

Is The Man in the High Castle based on a true story?

While The Man in the High Castle is not based on a true story — it’s an alternative history about what would’ve happened if the Axis powers won WWII instead of the Allies — it does include portrayals of real historical figures, like Franklin D. Roosevelt, J. Edgar Hoover, Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Josef Mengele, Eva Braun, Emperor Hirohito of Japan, and Hirohito’s son, Crown Prince Akihito. 

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