Alfonso Cuarón’s cult horror series Ascension just got three new stars — here’s who joined
Alfonso Cuarón’s Apple TV horror series Ascension is adding three new stars alongside T’Nia Miller — and you’ll recognise the names.
Right, let's talk about Ascension, Alfonso Cuarón's next play in the TV horror game – and it's growing quite the cast. If the words "Apple TV psychological horror based on a cult" haven't piqued your interest, I'm not sure what will.
Three more actors have joined Ascension: Art Malik, Fred Loxley, and Mirren Mack will appear as series regulars.
Hot on the heels of T'Nia Miller being confirmed in a main role, the creators have now added Art Malik (recognisable from The Woman in Cabin 10, and The Little Mermaid), Fred Loxley (from Killa Bee and Number 10), and Mirren Mack (recently seen in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple). None of these are bit-part players; they're in as regulars, which tells you something about the scale this show's aiming for. They join an already strong line-up with Caitríona Balfe in the lead (not just starring, but exec-producing too), plus Bill Nighy, Amanda Plummer, and Christopher Chung. Not exactly a set you shuffle in for a forgettable job, is it?
That cult horror angle
If you haven't read Adam Nevill's Last Days, which this thriller is based on, here's the short version: Balfe's Rose is a clever and stubborn documentary filmmaker, newly divorced, who gets fixated on the 20th-century mystery cult known as the Church of Ascension. She's good at untangling everyone else's lives but remarkably rubbish when it comes to her own. The deeper her documentary project goes, the more she's hooked by the cult's twisted comfort – until, predictably, she finds something much nastier slithering underneath it all.
Apple is selling this as a story that pushes questions about evil, innocence, and what you'll actually risk for the people you love. It's got the usual "the enemy is us" vibes, only with extra cult weirdness and horror thrown in.
Who's pulling the strings?
Alfonso Cuarón is running the show along with his brother Carlos Cuarón, taking up executive producing with Gabriela Rodriguez and Richard Schwartz via Esperanto Filmoj, plus Steve Golin, David Levine, and Zack Hayden for Anonymous Content. Natalie Erika James (Relic) is not only leading the directing but also co-writing with Christian White, alongside the Cuarón brothers.
- Lead director: Natalie Erika James
- Writers: James, Christian White, Alfonso and Carlos Cuarón
- Production companies: Anonymous Content and Esperanto Filmoj
Ascension doesn't have a release date just yet. Apple hasn't put anything on the calendar, so if you're after a bit of cult-driven horror from a lot of very serious (but also probably quite disturbed) actors, you'll just have to wait a bit longer.