Florence Pugh takes centre stage as the sinister Cathy Ames in the first trailer for Netflix’s East of Eden, a seven-part adaptation of John Steinbeck’s celebrated novel.
The trailer presents Cathy as the story’s compelling antiheroine, placing her at the heart of a sweeping family saga that follows the Trasks across generations. Pugh’s character is shown moving through a world of passion, violence and moral conflict while concealing her darker impulses beneath an outwardly composed persona.
Written and executive produced by Zoe Kazan, the limited series is adapted from Steinbeck’s 1952 novel and offers a fresh perspective on Cathy, one of its most notorious characters.
The drama follows Cathy’s entanglement with the Trask family, including Adam Trask, played by Christopher Abbott, and his brother Charles, portrayed by Mike Faist. The cast also includes Tracy Letts as the family patriarch Cyrus, Ciarán Hinds as Samuel Hamilton, Hoon Lee as Lee, Martha Plimpton as Faye, and Joseph Zada and Joe Anders as Cal and Aron Trask.
Set across decades, the story stretches from the aftermath of the American Civil War to the early years of the First World War, exploring the family’s struggle with inherited conflict and the choices that shape their lives.
Netflix’s trailer focuses on the series’ central question of whether people are defined by their past or by the decisions they make. Cathy, meanwhile, is framed not simply as a villain but as a figure whose motivations and history will drive the drama.
Kazan has said the production was rooted closely in Steinbeck’s original text, with the series drawing on the author’s exploration of good, evil and the possibility of change.
All seven episodes of East of Eden will be released globally on Netflix on October 1.
