Netflix Acquires Lily James-Starring Historical Drama The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society

Director Mike Newell’s historical drama The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society will stream on Netflix in America as well as many other areas, including Italy, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, according to THR.

The film is about WWII journalist Juliet Ashton, who decides to write about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a book club formed on Guernsey Island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy during the war. The film starts when she receives a letter from a Guernsey resident, a farmer named Dawsey, explaining how the club was formed as a refuge for the citizens of the island during the war. She begins writing letters back to the man and eventually travels there to meet the members and write a book about the club.

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The film is based on a 2008 novel written by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer, who interestingly wrote it as a series of letters. The film stars Lily James as Ashton and Michiel Huisman as Dawsey. James most recently starred in Baby Driver with Ansel Elgort and the Oscar winning Darkest Hour with Gary Oldman and can be seen in the forthcoming Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, out this summer. Huisman is most well-known for his role as Daario Naharis in Game of Thrones, but has also appeared in The Age of Adaline with Blake Lively and most recently, the Netflix original Irreplaceable You with Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society also stars Downton Abbey alums Jessica Brown Findlay and Penelope Wilton, with Matthew Goode and Tom Courtney (45 Years).

Newell is known for directing the hilarious British comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral, the Oscar-nominated Enchanted April with Miranda Richardson, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mona Lisa Smile with Julia Roberts and the most recent Great Expectations, starring Jeremy Irvine.

Studiocanal is releasing the film theatrically in the U.K. on April 20, with no set date yet for Netflix’s U.S. release. See a trailer for the film below.