The Big Picture

  • Keira Knightley stars in Netflix's The Woman in Cabin 10, based on the bestselling novel by Ruth Ware.
  • She plays a travel writer who witnesses a murder at sea, but struggles to convince others of what she saw.
  • The film will be directed by Simon Stone and written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse.

More than two decades after setting sail with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Keira Knightley is headed out to sea once more in the new Netflix thriller The Woman in Cabin 10. And while she won't have to contend with skeletons or sea monsters, she will have to solve a murder that nobody else believes even happened.

Based on Ruth Ware's bestselling 2016 novel of the same name, The Woman in Cabin 10 will star Knightley as travel writer Lo Blacklock, who joins the first voyage of the luxury yacht Aurora Borealis. Late one night, she witnesses a body being thrown overboard - but in the morning, all passengers and crew are accounted for. Nobody believes her story, but Lo is determined to get to the bottom of the case - even if it kills her. The film is set to be helmed by Australian director Simon Stone, in what will be his third feature. His debut was 2015's The Daughter, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck; he followed that up in 2021 with The Dig, a dramatization of the excavation of Sutton Hoo, starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes.

Who is Keira Knightley?

British actor Knightley broke out with her role in the sports film Bend it Like Beckham, and was subsequently cast in the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, rocketing her to worldwide superstardom. She is frequently cast in period historical dramas, including Atonement, Anna Karenina, Colette, and A Dangerous Method; however, she has also played a wide variety of roles, including bounty hunter Domino Harvey in Domino and new bride Juliet in Love Actually. She has been Oscar-nominated twice; once for Best Actress, in 2005's Pride and Prejudice, and once for Best Supporting Actress, in 2014's The Imitation Game. Knightley has had a productive relationship with Netflix as of late; last year, they released The Boston Strangler, in which she starred as Loretta McLaughlin, the journalist who first broke the story of the titular serial murderer.

Knightley's Other Work With Netflix

Netflix is also set to release Black Doves, a spy thriller TV series which she will star in alongside Sarah Lancashire and Ben Whishaw. The series will follow Knightley as Helen, a woman who begins an affair that threatens the secret identity she's been living under when her lover finds himself involved in London' criminal underground. Lanchasire is set to star as an "old friend" sent by Helen's employers to help protect her. The series has not yet set a release date, but is said to premiere sometime this year.

The Woman in Cabin 10 will be written by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, the writing team behind Snake Eyes, Rebecca, and Seberg, with an additional pass by director Stone. It will be produced by Debra Hayward (Back to Black), and executive produced by SISTER's Ilda Diffley (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris).

The Woman in Cabin 10 is currently in pre-production at Netflix; no release date has yet been set. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.