We promise Netflix’s The Politician trailer will have your vote for fall’s best binge
By Reed Gaudens
Ryan Murphy’s Netflix debut, The Politician, stars Ben Platt and Gwyneth Paltrow, and the explosive official trailer makes an excellent campaign for fall’s best new series.
Are you already missing the wild ride of HBO’s breakout hit teen drama series Euphoria? Don’t worry, Netflix has your next relentlessly addictive and unpredictable binge all queued up with Ryan Murphy’s The Politician.
While the two series are very different, with the former being a frighteningly honest portrayal of modern adolescence and the latter being a campy Election-esque comedy, they overlap plenty thanks to their twisted stories and knockout casts. Put your glitter away (for now) and get excited for this fall’s most anticipated Netflix premiere.
In the first official trailer for The Politician, Murphy’s debut project under his new pact with Netflix, Tony-winner Ben Platt stars as ambitious student politician Payton Hobart, whose wealth and privilege leads him to follow his dream of becoming the President of the United States. But before moving into the oval office, Payton makes the all-important bid for student body president of the illustrious Saint Sebastian High School. Pulling a play from the Tracy Flick playbook, winning will come at a cost — and this time, there will be blood.
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The Politician also stars Academy Award-winner Gwyneth Paltrow as Payton’s mother Georgina, legend and frequent Murphy player Jessica Lange as Rose, and Lucy Boynton as Payton’s arch rival Astrid. The series also features Zoey Deutch, Laura Dreyfuss, David Corenswet, Bob Balaban, Theo Germaine, Julia Schlaepfer, Rahne Jones, and Benjamin Barrett in main roles as well as Dylan McDermott and January Jones in supporting roles. Keep your eyes peeled for guest stars Bette Midler and Judith Light.
Beyond the stacked line-up in front of and behind the camera (Murphy teams with his usual collaborators Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan), The Politician’s trailer boasts a self-assured series that knows what it is and how bonkers it can be. Right on the heels of an election year, the new Netflix comedy serves up some much-needed satire about power and politics.
It’s as if the non-musical subject matter of Glee mashed-up with the whirlwind camp of Scream Queens. Who wouldn’t be on board for that collision of wonderfully weird worlds?
Of course, as one of the season’s biggest premieres, The Politician will arrive with all eyes on it, but if that trailer promises anything (and it promises a lot), the series will live up to its homegrown hype. From Ben Platt covered in blood to queer romance to Jessica Lange saying “butt munch,” we’re in for a quite the show. And not to jump the gun based on a two-minute clip, but Platt’s turning in the expected tour de force comedic and dramatic performance that will without a doubt make him a front-runner come next awards season. But that race won’t be nearly as aggressive as Payton’s.
Thankfully, The Politician’s first season finale won’t leave fans organizing a campaign of their own to save their new favorite show (much like The OA’s current situation), assuming the series will net an adoring fanbase. The series came to Netflix with a two-season order, with each season following Payton in some sort of contentious political race. The anthology nature allows for new cast members to naturally join the series, which will have the new normal episode count of eight episode for the first season, as Payton plots his path to the White House.
Check out your first look at The Politician in the official trailer below!
What did you think of the trailer? Are you excited to binge-watch The Politician on Netflix? Do you think it will be the latest hit series and a future award-winner? Sound off in the comments!
The first season of The Politician streams on Friday, Sept. 27 on Netflix.