Audience members watching the steamy new Netflix drama want to know if Obsession is based on a true story or not.
From the glamorous and glossy Obsession filming locations to the attractive all-star cast (Happy Valley's Charlie Murphy and Fool Me Once actor Richard Armitage) - there's a lot to like about new Netflix mini series Obsession. The story centres on a sexy and secret affair between William and his son's fiancée Anna, that pushes boundaries in the bedroom and leads to deadly consequences in the real world.
Viewers have many questions about the show, including about the narrative - and whether Obsession is based on a true story or not. We've shared details of what inspired the Netflix show.
Is Netflix's Obsession based on a true story?
No, Netflix show Obsession is not based on a true story, instead it is based on the 1991 novel Damage by Josephine Hart. Like the novel, the story follows the affair between a dad and his son's fiancée.
In Hart's book, William is a high-profile politician who begins a secret relationship with his son's girlfriend, Anna. However, this detail has changed in the TV show, with William a renowned Surgeon instead. The action is also set in 2023, as opposed to the nineties time period when the novel was written and published.
The original book has been adapted for the screen by feminist playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm alongside writer Benji Walters. Though the series - like the book - is told from William's point of view, the writing team wanted to delve deeper into the character of Anna and her behaviour, who is presented as an obsessive and destructive vixen in the novel.
As Charlie Murphy - who plays Anna in the show - explains: "While the original book and film were told through the voice of a male protagonist, this version, written by a woman and co-directed by a woman, with a female intimacy coordinator on board, was to give at least equal weight to the female perspective.
"It was going to be so much more empowering to my character Anna Barton," she told the Irish Independent. "I read the script and thought ‘oh my god, 100 per cent yes to this’. And I couldn’t have been more right. It was the most dynamic and fun role I could ever have imagined."
Hart's book was a success upon release in 1991 and became a New York Times bestseller. It was made into a movie of the same name in 1992, starring Juliette Binoche and Jeremy Irons. Many have likened it to an early Fifty Shades of Grey.
Video of the Week
