--- title: "Scarpetta" year: 2026 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/scarpetta" fi1m_id: "scarpetta" imdb_id: "tt14786934" tmdb_id: 240740 wikidata_id: "Q125343239" fi1m_score: 50 critics_score: 53 critics_reviews: 8 published: "2026-09-10" updated: "2026-09-10T18:02:48.430839+00:00" region: "NO" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Scarpetta (2026) Created by Elizabeth Sarnoff · Drama, Crime, Mystery ## Identity Scarpetta - **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/scarpetta - **Type:** Series - **Fi1m ID:** scarpetta - **IMDb ID:** tt14786934 - **TMDB ID:** 240740 - **Wikidata ID:** Q125343239 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14786934/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/240740, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q125343239 **Fi1m score: 50** · Critics 53 from 8 reviews *In a sentence:* Two timelines, three directors, four editors, one chatbot; the corpses are the only thing everybody agrees on > Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis bicker their way through eight episodes and are the only reason to stay. Around them the two timelines, the gore and an unaccountable chatbot pull in different directions, and the series never settles on what it is for. ## Synopsis Kay Scarpetta (Nicole Kidman) is a forensic pathologist whose working day is the murdered women on her table. Adapted from Patricia Cornwell’s novels, the eight-part series runs two timelines at once. In the present, Kay works alongside detective Pete Marino (Bobby Cannavale) and Benton Wesley (Simon Baker), while her sister Dorothy (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her niece Lucy (Ariana DeBose) complicate everything outside the morgue. In the past, Rosy McEwen, Jake Cannavale and Hunter Parrish play the younger Kay, Marino and Wesley at the start of their careers. The present-day case is a run of killings of women; the earlier timeline follows the three of them as they first learn the work. Certificate 15. ## Review Patricia Cornwell has been writing about Kay Scarpetta since 1990, and television has waited a long time to have a go at her. Nicole Kidman plays the pathologist across eight episodes, in a present-day timeline that keeps cutting back to a younger Kay (Rosy McEwen) at the start of her career. It is a sound idea for a series about a woman who has spent her working life looking at what people do to each other, and it lets the show ask what a career of that does to a person. The trouble is that the six credited writers have packed in a great deal else, and the answer gets lost under it. Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis are the reason to stay. Kidman plays Kay as a woman who has not slept properly in some time, precise at the table and short with everybody away from it, and it is a better performance than the writing around it. Curtis plays her sister Dorothy at full volume, a woman who arrives in a room already aggrieved and leaves it having said the one thing she should not have. The scenes between them are the only ones in which the dialogue sounds like it was spoken before it was typed. We laughed at them more than once, and each time the show cut back to a body we resented it a little. The younger cast do what they can. McEwen gives the early Kay a stiffness that reads as somebody deciding how to be taken seriously in rooms full of men, and it lines up with Kidman’s later brittleness well enough that you believe they are the same person. Jake Cannavale plays the young Pete Marino to Bobby Cannavale’s older one, and the resemblance does half the work. Hunter Parrish is the young Benton Wesley to Simon Baker’s and gets less to do. JoAnne Yarrow, Cecily Rhett, Colin Patton and Andrew Wesman share the editing, and the joins between the two periods are sometimes matched on a gesture and more often just a cut, so that you check the hairstyles to work out when you are. Then there are the bodies. The series is about murdered women, and Matthew Munn’s morgue is built to show them: steel, pale tile, hard light from above. John Brawley, Michael Simmonds and Eliot Rockett share the photography, and whoever is holding the camera, it stays on the table longer than it needs to. We flinched at the first autopsy, as we were meant to. By the third we had stopped flinching, and that is the failure, because a show whose tagline promises a voice for the voiceless spends a good part of its running time looking at them rather than listening. The 15 certificate is doing a lot of work. The plotting is the other problem. The central mystery is built out of red herrings, several an episode, and by the midpoint we had stopped trying to keep count. There is a thread involving an AI chatbot that belongs to a different, sillier series, and every time it appears the tone drops out from under the actors. Ariana DeBose, as Kay’s niece Lucy, deserves more than she is given. Ellen Kuras, David Gordon Green and Charlotte Brändström share the directing, and the episodes do not look or move like each other; Jeff Russo and Perrine Virgile’s score, low strings under most of the talk, is what holds the thing together when the picture will not. Kidman has made a run of this kind of television, and *The Undoing* showed her that a thriller can be lurid and still under control. This one is lurid and loose. Set against the crime procedurals it is plainly modelled on, it has a stronger lead and a stronger sister than most of them and a weaker grip on its own case than nearly all. The reviews so far have split, some finding the two timelines well blended and others finding the whole thing a mess. We land in the middle, and nearer the second camp. Watch it for the two women, and do not go in hungry. The eight episodes could have been six, and the two it would lose are the ones with the chatbot in them. *Fi1m score 50, published 10 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews are split almost down the middle, and the spread is wide: three critics like it, three do not, and two sit between. The praise clusters around the two leads. Nearly everyone finds something to admire in Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis, and the scenes between them are singled out even by critics who dislike the rest. The dual-timeline structure divides opinion: Variety and Collider find it well handled, while The AV Club calls it a failure that takes itself too seriously. The reservations cluster around tone and taste. The Telegraph is repulsed by the graphic treatment of mutilated female victims, and The Guardian dismisses the series as a dire mess with an odd AI chatbot element. The Hollywood Reporter sits in the middle, finding it alternately effective and bumbling. Several critics note overfamiliar tropes and too many red herrings. Digital Spy’s verdict, fun and campy in places, is about as warm as the middle gets. ## Straight answers **Is Scarpetta worth watching?** *Scarpetta* is worth watching only for Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis, and we scored it 50. Their scenes as bickering sisters are the only ones where the dialogue sounds spoken rather than typed. Around them, two timelines, a red-herring mystery and an oddly silly chatbot thread pull the eight episodes apart, and the series never settles on what it is for. **Where can I watch Scarpetta in Norway?** *Scarpetta* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in Norway. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is Scarpetta, and is it suitable for children?** *Scarpetta* carries a UK 15 certificate and is not suitable for children. The series is about murdered women, and the camera stays on the autopsy table longer than it needs to; we flinched at the first and had stopped by the third, which is its own kind of failure. The squeamish should look elsewhere, and older teenagers should expect graphic, repeated morgue scenes. **How does Scarpetta compare to Prime Suspect?** *Scarpetta* and [*Prime Suspect*](https://film.one/tv/prime-suspect) both follow a woman doing grim work in rooms full of men, and *Prime Suspect* is the better series by a distance. Helen Mirren's Jane Tennison is the template that Kidman's Kay Scarpetta draws on, and the earlier show keeps a grip on its case that this one loses among red herrings and gore. Watch *Prime Suspect* for the drama and *Scarpetta* only for the sisters. **Is Scarpetta based on a true story or a book?** *Scarpetta* is based on Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta novels, which she has been writing since 1990, and not on a true story. The series adds a two-timeline structure, cutting between Kidman's present-day pathologist and Rosy McEwen as her younger self at the start of her career. No knowledge of the books is needed to follow it, though the six credited writers have packed in a great deal. **What should I watch after Scarpetta?** After *Scarpetta*, try [*Prime Suspect*](https://film.one/tv/prime-suspect) (1991, Fi1m 88): Helen Mirren’s Jane Tennison is the template for a woman working a room full of men. Then [*The Silence of the Lambs*](https://film.one/film/the-silence-of-the-lambs) (1991, Fi1m 91): The same territory, and Demme knows exactly how long to hold on a body; and [*The Killing (Forbrydelsen)*](https://film.one/tv/the-killing-2007) (2007, Fi1m 84): Twenty Danish hours on one case, and not a red herring wasted. ### Reviews we read (8) - **Variety**, Aramide Tinubu (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it excellent storytelling that keeps viewers grounded in the crimes and Kay’s methodology despite a complicated narrative. They praise the seamless blending of timelines, graphic intensity, and exploration of misogyny, death, and monstrosity in many forms. [Read](https://variety.com/2026/tv/reviews/scarpetta-review-prime-video-1236681360/) - **The Times** (70/100, inferred): The review highlights how Nicole Kidman brings new life to the forensic sleuth in this adaptation of the Cornwell novels, noting the dual timeline and Jamie Lee Curtis's wild performance. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/scarpetta-review-prime-video-nicole-kidman-57x25nmp6) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Daniel Fienberg (50/100, inferred): The review describes the series as alternately effective and bumbling, with some good adaptive ideas but predictable ghoulish flaws and overfamiliar tropes. It praises Kidman’s frazzled performance and the dual-timeline structure while criticizing uneven casting and source fidelity issues. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/scarpetta-review-nicole-kidman-jamie-lee-curtis-amazon-1236522898/) - **The Telegraph**, Anita Singh (2/5): The critic is repulsed by the graphic depictions of mutilated female victims and questions why Kidman is in this over-the-top drama. It mixes past and present timelines but feels excessive and poorly judged on screen. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/scarpetta-amazon-prime-video-review/) - **The AV Club**, Saloni Gajjar (D): The critic calls it Nicole Kidman's shoddiest show yet, a hot mess that takes itself too seriously and fails to deliver on its dark tale or dual timelines, with mismatched performances and lazy direction. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/scarpetta-review-tv-prime-video-nicole-kidman) - **The Guardian** (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the series a dire mess with an odd AI chatbot element, though praises the chemistry between Kidman and Curtis. The adaptation feels trashy and weird rather than compelling. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/mar/11/scarpetta-review-nicole-kidman-dire-mess-ai-chatbot) - **Collider**, Aidan Kelley (7/10): The series delivers strong performances from its ensemble, particularly Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis, along with well-handled non-linear storytelling that balances present-day and flashback timelines effectively. However, it stumbles with jarring sci-fi detours and too many red herrings in the central mystery. [Read](https://collider.com/scarpetta-review-prime-video-nicole-kidman-jamie-lee-curtis/) - **Digital Spy**, David Opie (3/5): The critic praises the performances of Kidman and Curtis, especially their sibling rivalry and clashes, which elevate the show, along with some horror elements, despite flaws in plotting and dialogue; it's fun and campy in places. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a70672662/scarpetta-review-nicole-kidman/) ## Details - **Created by:** Elizabeth Sarnoff - **Creator:** Elizabeth Sarnoff - **Director:** David Gordon Green, Charlotte Brändström, Ellen Kuras - **Writer:** Elizabeth Sarnoff, Matthew Zucker, Iturri Sosa, Maisha Closson, Alison Balian, Ahmadu Garba - **Novel:** Patricia Cornwell - **Cinematography:** Michael Simmonds, Eliot Rockett, John Brawley - **Editor:** Cecily Rhett, JoAnne Yarrow, Colin Patton, Andrew Wesman - **Music:** Jeff Russo, Perrine Virgile - **Production design:** Matthew Munn - **Costume design:** Ane Crabtree - **Producer:** Mary Kane, John H. Brister - **Cast:** Nicole Kidman as Kay Scarpetta; Jamie Lee Curtis as Dorothy; Bobby Cannavale as Pete Marino; Simon Baker as Benton Wesley; Rosy McEwen as Past Kay Scarpetta; Jake Cannavale as Past Pete Marino; Hunter Parrish as Past Bentony Wesley; Ariana DeBose as Lucy Farinelli-Watson - **Release (Norway):** 11 March 2026 - **Genres:** Drama, Crime, Mystery - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSpvGC0_XLM ## Where to watch in Norway - Amazon Prime Video: streaming, uhd *Checked 2026-09-10.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Prime Suspect* (1991), Fi1m 88: Helen Mirren’s Jane Tennison is the template for a woman working a room full of men — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/prime-suspect.md) - *The Silence of the Lambs* (1991), Fi1m 91: The same territory, and Demme knows exactly how long to hold on a body — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-silence-of-the-lambs.md) - *The Killing (Forbrydelsen)* (2007), Fi1m 84: Twenty Danish hours on one case, and not a red herring wasted — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-killing-2007.md) - *Sharp Objects* (2018), Fi1m 84: Sisters, a dead girl and a woman who cannot go home; slower and crueller — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/sharp-objects.md) - *Zodiac* (2007), Fi1m 91: Fincher on what a career spent staring at murder does to the people doing it — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/zodiac.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/scarpetta