The Society follows the story of a group of teenagers who must learn to run their own community after the rest of the population of their town disappears. The mystery begins when the students of the local high school return early from a canceled field trip and find that everyone else is gone. A dense forest appears surrounding the town; the outside world apparently no longer exists and cannot be contacted by telephone or Internet. The teenagers must come up with their own rules to survive with limited resources.
Cast and characters
Main
Kathryn Newton as Allie Pressman, Cassandra's younger sister who grew up in her shadow. Will's love interest.
Gideon Adlon as Becca Gelb, Sam's best friend who is pregnant.
Sean Berdy as Sam Eliot, Allie and Cassandra's cousin. Grizz's love interest.
Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Helena, Luke's religious girlfriend.
Jacques Colimon as Will LeClair, Allie's best friend and love interest who grew up in foster care.
Olivia DeJonge as Elle Tomkins, an outcast who becomes Campbell's girlfriend.
Alex Fitzalan as Harry Bingham, the popular and wealthy son of the Town Mayor. Kelly's ex-boyfriend.
Kristine Froseth as Kelly Aldrich, Harry's ex-girlfriend.
Jose Julian as Gordie, a smart kid who has a crush on Cassandra.
Alexander MacNicoll as Luke, Helena's boyfriend and former quarterback.
Toby Wallace as Campbell Eliot, Sam's older brother and Allie and Cassandra's cousin who exhibits psychopathic personality traits. He physically abuses Elle.
Rachel Keller as Cassandra Pressman, Allie's older sister who is a natural leader. She has a congenital heart defect for which she is medicated.
Olivia Nikkanen as Gwen, Clark's on-and-off girlfriend.
Recurring
Jack Mulhern as Grizz, a former football player and Sam's love interest.
Spencer House as Clark, a former football player and Gwen's on-and-off boyfriend.
Emilio Garcia-Sanchez as Jason, a former football player and Erika's boyfriend.
Salena Qureshi as Bean, a smart kid and Gordie's best friend.
Kiara Pichardo as Madison, Olivia and Gwen's friend.
In 2013, Christopher Keyser and Marc Webb pitched the show to Showtime, but the network later decided to pass on the series. On July 24, 2018, Netflix announced that it had given the production a series order. The series was created by Keyser, who will also act as writer, and executive producer, with Webb set to direct. On July 9, 2019, the series was renewed for a second season.
Casting
Alongside the initial series announcement, it was confirmed that Kathryn Newton had been cast as a series regular. In November 2018, Rachel Keller, Gideon Adlon, Jacques Colimon, Olivia DeJonge, Alex Fitzalan, Kristine Froseth, Jose Julian, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Alex MacNicoll, Jack Mulhern, Salena Qureshi, Grace Victoria Cox, Sean Berdy, and Toby Wallace joined the cast. On April 2, 2020, Deadline Hollywood reported that Olivia Nikkanen had been promoted to a series regular role, ahead of the premiere of the second season.
Filming
Principal photography for the first season took place in Lancaster, Massachusetts, from September to November 2018. Production for the second season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Release
Marketing
On April 30, 2019, the official trailer was released. The first season was released on Netflix on May 10, 2019.
Reception
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes provides an 86% approval from 36 reviews, and an average rating of 7.44/10. The website's critical consensus states, "An intriguing tangle of mystery and melodrama, what The Society lacks in levity—and at times clarity—it makes up for with its surprisingly thoughtful exploration of community, culture, and what it means to grow up." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
