Prime Video’s Upcoming Thriller Is Taking A Big Risk By Adapting A Novel With A Divisive Premise

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Prime Video’s new erotic thriller, 56 Days, starring a familiar face from Descendants, has a clever idea at its core. However, the story’s controversial location could make it difficult for the show to gain traction. Prime Video has been trying to bring back the popularity of erotic thrillers – a genre that was big in the late 80s and early 90s with films like Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction.

Though erotic thrillers fell out of popularity in the late 1990s, Prime Video has recently started producing them again. Examples include the early film The Voyeurs, which featured a surprisingly complicated plot twist, and the 2025 miniseries The Girlfriend.

This playful thriller, inspired by Michelle Frances’ novel, shares the steamy vibe of The Voyeurs but was better received by reviewers than that film. Following this success, Prime Video is adapting another popular book into an erotic thriller: Catherine Ryan Howard’s 2021 novel, 56 Days.

56 Days Is Based On Catherine Ryan Howard’s Novel

Ryan Howard’s 2021 psychological thriller, 56 Days, centers on a couple caught up in a homicide. Oliver and Ciara’s whirlwind romance begins with a chance encounter in a shop and quickly leads to them moving in together. When COVID-19 lockdowns begin, they’re unexpectedly forced to quarantine, and their relationship rapidly intensifies.

Fifty-six days later, police discovered a dead body in Oliver’s apartment, launching an investigation. The novel centers around a mystery: did Ciara kill Oliver, did Oliver kill Ciara, or was something else responsible for the death? Author Ryan Howard skillfully jumps between the couple’s past affair and the current investigation, challenging readers to sort through a complicated network of deception.

The setup of 56 Days – taking place during the initial COVID lockdown – is clever. The mystery begins when a body is discovered, and it’s revealed that a new couple had been quarantining together without anyone knowing. However, this unique premise, which was a major draw for the TV series, might also be its biggest weakness. The original novel came out when lockdowns were still happening, making the situation feel very real at the time.

Prime Video’s 56 Days Adaptation Bets Big On COVID Nostalgia

Image via amc+

The book came out in August 2021 and quickly became popular, earning over 60,000 ratings on Goodreads. Although it took seven years for Prime Video to adapt the previous book, The Girlfriend, into a series, that wasn’t a concern here because this story feels relevant at any time.

The film The Girlfriend explores a strange and unsettling competition between a man’s new partner and his overbearing mother, a dynamic that could happen at any time. However, 56 Days completely relies on the audience remembering the specific experience of lockdowns and quarantines to understand the story.

It’s been about three years since we started to move past all the pandemic precautions, and honestly, this new show, 56 Days, seems to be counting on our collective memory of those early days. They’re hoping people will want to relive that time through a fictional story, which is a big ask! But at the very least, they need viewers to be okay with being constantly reminded of everything that happened – it’s a tough balance, but they’re banking on us being willing to watch even with all that baggage.

It’s still a challenge for filmmakers and TV creators to effectively portray the pandemic in their stories. For every show or movie that gets it right, there’s another that misses the mark. For example, while the 2020 film Locked Down wasn’t well-received, the 2022 mystery Glass Onion: A Knives Out successfully wove the pandemic into its plot.

Prime Video’s 56 Days Cast Helps The Adaptation’s Tough Sell Premise

Rob Savage’s first horror film, Host, became popular by cleverly using themes common during the pandemic. However, his next film, DASHCAM, didn’t do as well, likely because its story about COVID-19 quickly felt old. Fortunately, the show 56 Days has one strong point working in its favor.

The series 56 Days features rising stars Dove Cameron and Avan Jogia, bringing a lot of potential appeal. While fans of the original novel were already likely to tune in, the popular actors might attract a wider audience, even those hesitant about a thriller focused on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite this, the show’s central idea is still a gamble. The COVID-19 pandemic brings back difficult memories for many, so a series set during lockdown might not appeal to viewers, no matter how good the actors or production are. However, if 56 Days does become popular, it could potentially launch a whole new type of TV show.

Stories set during the COVID-19 lockdowns offer rich possibilities for drama. The confined setting naturally lends itself to genres like mysteries and romances where characters are forced together. The new film, 56 Days, could be the first of many stories exploring this unique period if it’s well-received when it’s released.

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2025-12-11 00:19