The Plot Against America
Winona Ryder stars in a drama that imagines an alternative 1940s...
TUESDAY 14 July, 9pm & 10.10pm Sky Atlantic Drama All six episodes will be available on Sky Box Sets and NOW NOWOW TV from Tuesday 14 July
A working-class Jewish family watch on with horror as xenophobic populist Charles Lindbergh is elected US President in 1940 and turns the nation toward fascism. This six-part reimagining of history stars Hollywood actor Winona Ryder as Evelyn,
John Turturro ( The Name of the Rose) ) as Rabbi Lionel
Bengelsdorf, and Ben
Cole as Lindbergh.
THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA
Tuesday, 9pm & 10.10pm Sky Atlantic Drama All six episodes will be available on Sky Box Sets
and NOW TV from Tuesday 14 July
The year is 1940 and the Americans look on as Nazi Germany invades Europe, but few realise there’s a fascist lurking in their own country planning a similar regime! This is the basis of a powerful drama that imagines a frightening alternative history, in which Charles Lindbergh, a famous aviator who shared many of Hitler’s twisted beliefs, defeats Franklin D Roosevelt in the presidential
election. Told through the eyes of a Jewish family who live in New Jersey, this six-part drama follows Lindbergh’s rise to power and shows how easily freedoms can be lost.
Family
In the first of this week’s two episodes, Herman and Bess Levin are concerned for the future and the safety of their young sons and orphaned nephew Alvin, but Bess’ older sister, Evelyn (Winona Ryder, Stranger Things), is less aware of the danger.
When she meets Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf (John Turturro), who’s backing Lindbergh in the upcoming election, despite the politician’s antiSemitic policies, she wonders where her allegiances lie…
‘Evelyn is lonely,’ says Winona. ‘Her infatuation with Lionel blinds her to Lindbergh’s policies. There’s this terrible feeling that things are going off-kilter as the story develops.’
This series felt very personal to the Hollywood star, as she lost family during the Holocaust.
‘I lost relatives in World War Two, including my grandfather, who fought the Nazis, and others in the concentration camps,’ she explains. ‘So it’s hard not to feel moved by the tale. This could happen in America and this is a taste of what we might be heading into if people don’t vote!’