Oh Boy, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Just Got An Australian Release

Hey, you know what’s more upsetting than obsessing over a new dystopian TV drama and its relation to both feminism and the Trump administration? Doing all this while also having no legal access to said TV show!

For the past week, Australians have been wading through a sea of interesting but infuriating takes about The Handmaid’s Tale — a much-anticipated show that no local network or streaming service had secured access to. The new re-make of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 classic recently premiered on Hulu to much fanfare. The internet and international media are talking about how it all compares to the book, how its depiction of reproductive dystopia resonates in today’s political context, what message it does or does not send to people of certain political persuasions, and what modern-day society it more closely reflects.

Here’s the good news: SBS On Demand have picked up the slack and announced they’ll be premiering the series in full! Here’s the not so good news: you’ll have to wait until July 6, so you have two more months until you can properly engage with any of this online debate and criticism.

This announcement comes off the back of a few good international distribution wins for SBS. The network is currently fast-tracking Brooklyn Nine-Nine from the US, and both Donald Glover’s Atlanta and HBO’s The Young Pope are available via the free On Demand streaming service now. The latter two critically-acclaimed shows were however similarly delayed from their US premiere.

If you haven’t caught up on the Handmaid’s Tale buzz yet, the show tells the story of Offred (Elisabeth Moss) — one of many women forced into sexual servitude in an ultra-conservative totalitarian society in the US. The show is created by Bruce Miller (The 100) and seems disturbing as hell. Maybe leave the analysis at that until you can get your hands on it.

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The Handmaid’s Tale will be available to stream in full on SBS On Demand from July 6.