AWARD-WINNING NEW ZEALAND DRAMA SERIES THE BAD SEED; ABOUT DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY WITH DARK SECRETS PREMIERES EXCLUSIVELY IN U.S.
All 5 Episodes to Stream Beginning Thursday, April 29
There are deep-rooted secrets in every family. Based on a series of books by award-winning New Zealand author, Charlotte Grimshaw, The Bad Seed tells the story of two brothers who have raised themselves from the desperate days of their early childhood, only to have their newly ordered lives begin to fall apart when one becomes a suspect in a murder and the police investigation draws the household into a hurricane of scandal. All five episodes of The Bad Seed will be available to binge on Thursday, April 29 via Sundance Now and the AMC+ streaming bundle.
Simon Lampton (Matt Minto, Shortland Street, The Blue Rose), a respected obstetrician, has a lovely home in Herne Bay with two daughters and a beautiful wife, Karen (Jodie Hillock, The Inland Road): a well-organized mother and pillar of their community. Older brother Ford Dean O’Gorman, The Hobbit, Trumbo), once estranged and still rough around the edges, is staying in the spare room and appears to be the only outward disruption to Simon’s controlled life. But Simon has a secret– he’s having an affair with a beautiful young woman from one of Auckland’s seediest suburbs. When Julia Stevens, the Lamptons’ neighbor, is murdered in her own home, Detective Marie Da Silva (Madeleine Sami, Super City) starts focusing on the Lampton household, and Simon’s attempt to cover up his affair begins to unravel his carefully constructed life.
Respected obstetrician Simon Lampton appears to have it all: a well-paying job, a beautiful house in one of Auckland’s most expensive suburbs, a beautiful wife, and two well-behaved teenage daughters. Yet Simon is also deeply flawed, taking risks that put his family and future on the line. Haunted by the traumatic childhood he shared with older brother Ford until he was taken into foster care, Simon has a dark past he would like to keep secret – something that becomes harder and harder when he becomes a person of interest in a murder.
Best known for his role as Isaac Worthington in Shortland Street, Matt Minto has had a successful career in local and international theatre productions, as well as appearing in TV shows such as The Blue Rose and Home and Away.
Working as an arborist and landscaper, Ford is rougher round the edges than his ambitious younger brother Simon but appears content to take a more happy-go-lucky approach to life. Separated from his brother when Simon was put into foster care as a child, Ford was left to spend his adolescence alone with their abusive father – something about which the brothers rarely speak. Living with Simon and his wife Karen in their sprawling home’s spare bedroom until he makes his next move, Ford is his brother’s main confidant – a role that becomes increasingly tense when Simon is implicated in a murder investigation.
Making his television debut at 10-years-old in Raider of the South Seas, Dean has had an extensive acting career that has seen him appear in McLeod’s Daughters, Go Girls, Shortland Street, The Almighty Johnsons and Westside, as well as films like The Hobbit, Toy Love and Trumbo.
An upper-middle-class domestic goddess, Karen is a model of a mother to daughters Claire and Elka, sitting on the board of school trustees, tirelessly fundraising and maintaining the perfect home. What’s more, she has built for her family powerful political connections, ingratiating herself with Prime Ministerial hopeful David Hallwright and his glamourous wife Roza.
Yet while husband Simon provides her with every material comfort, she becomes increasingly concerned that her marriage may be in trouble – and, with Simon growing ever more distant in the midst of a murder investigation, realises that she will have to fight for her family.
A graduate of prestigious New Zealand drama school Toi Whakaari, Jodie has worked extensively in local film, television and theatre. With roles in shows like The Brokenwood Mysteries, Nothing Trivial, and Ash vs Evil Dead, Jodie has most recently appeared in the New Zealand film Daffodils.
When a wealthy divorcée is found murdered in her Herne Bay home, Detective Sergeant Marie Da Silva is put in charge of the investigation. Dogged, determined, and deeply intuitive, Marie can tell from the get-go that Julia’s neighbor Simon Lampton is lying about something – and following her nose, begins to unravel a tangled web of secrets and lies in one of Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs.
Writer, actor, and comedian Madeleine is a beloved and iconic New Zealand performer, known for her work on projects like SuperCity, in which she appeared as all 4 central characters, and The Breaker Upperers, which she co-directed and starred in.
With a raft of other successful New Zealand roles, Madeleine has appeared in TV shows like The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Outrageous Fortune, Bro ’Town, and Shortland Street, and films like Sione’s Wedding, Under the Mountain, and What We Do in the Shadows.
To add pressure, Roza Hallwright (Chelsie Preston Crayford, Underbelly), the wife of the soon-to-be next Prime Minister (Xavier Horan, West Side), has decided to make the Lamptons her best friends, ostensibly because Simon has contributed funds to her husband’s campaign, but she too has a secret that involves the Lamptons. As Detective Da Silva digs further, Simon’s world starts to crumble. But it’s going to take more than spadework to uncover that this fall from grace is no accident, rather a careful unpicking by someone Simon thinks he can trust.
Ambitious politician and self-made millionaire David Hallwright is willing to do anything to make his dream of becoming New Zealand’s next Prime Minister come true – yet despite his ruthlessness remains powerless in the face of his wife Roza. Yet while he strives to keep her happy, it is also the enigmatic and impulsive Roza who threatens to derail David’s campaign – and he soon realizes that to get what he wants he will have to gain control over her life.
Growing up in South Auckland, Xavier was influenced by surrounding Pacific Island culture which he credits with greatly informing his craft. With television credits including Shortland Street, Westside, The Brokenwood Mysteries and critically acclaimed OnDemand series Alibi, he has also appeared in films such as The Dark Horse, The Last Saint and No. 2.
Cool, chic, and icily remote, Roza finds herself the target of public scrutiny as husband David’s political career takes off. Having reinvented herself after a troubled past, Roza is uncomfortable with the attention – but soon finds her powerful new status has advantages too, as she becomes increasingly obsessed with the Lampton family.
Daughter to acclaimed New Zealand director Gaylene Preston, Chelsie made her on-screen debut at age 4 and has gone on to appear in roles in TV shows like Underbelly, The Cult, Ash vs Evil Dead and Hope and Wire, as well as films such as What We Do in the Shadows and The Inland Road.
A writer and director as well as an actor, Chelsie wrote directed and starred in the short film Falling Up, which went on to be awarded the title of Best New Zealand Short Film in the NZ International Film Festival.
Episode Synopses
Episode 1 – Simon Lampton is a successful obstetrician who looks like he has the ideal life, but everything begins to unravel when neighbor and former patient, Julia Stevens, is brutally murdered and Simon’s dysfunctional childhood comes back to haunt him.
Written by Sarah-Kate Lynch and Joss King. Directed by Helena Brooks.
Episode 2 –Simon begins to lose it emotionally as police pressure intensifies and his personal life crumbles. Ford helps and hinders his brother and Roza courts the Lampton family before dropping a bombshell on Simon.
Written by Sarah-Kate Lynch, Joss King and Michael Beran. Directed by Mike Smith.
Episode 3 – Roza finally confesses her secret to David. Karen’s had enough of Simon’s lying and kicks him out. Ford and Simon are forced to confront their violent father.
Written by Sarah-Kate Lynch, Joss King and Michael Beran. Directed by Caroline Bell-Booth.
Episode 4 -Karen and Roza declare war. Roza has an emotional breakdown and overdoses. Simon is suspected of the murder of an investigative journalist and Ford manipulates Simon’s misfortune.
Written by Sarah-Kate Lynch, Joss King and Michael Beran. Directed by Caroline Bell-Booth.
Episode 5- Simon has a realization about the murder but can’t convince the cops. Roza has a double celebration on Election Day.
Written by Sarah-Kate Lynch and Joss King. Directed by Mike Smith.
About Sundance Now:
AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now is for culture craving TV watchers looking for their next series to obsess over and offers a rich selection of original and exclusive series from engrossing true crime to heart-stopping dramas and fiercely intelligent thrillers from around the world, all streaming commercial-free. Exclusive new programs are added every week. Sundance Now has exclusively premiered several distinctive, critically acclaimed Sundance Now Original Series, including supernatural thriller A Discovery of Witches; glamorous thriller Riviera starring Julia Stiles; critically acclaimed French spy thriller crime drama The Bureau; and Swedish period drama The Restaurant, as well as Sundance Now Exclusives, such as British true-crime thriller Des starring David Tennant; Australian drama Upright starring Tim Minchin; and Australian psychological thriller The Secrets She Keeps; and riveting true-crime series The Suspect, The Dakota Entrapment Tapes, No One Saw A Thing, and Killing for Love.
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About AMC+:
AMC+ is the company’s new premium streaming bundle featuring an extensive lineup of popular and critically acclaimed original programming from across AMC Networks’ entertainment networks and a number of the company’s targeted streaming services including Shudder, Sundance Now and IFC Films Unlimited, which feature content such as Riviera, Creepshow, A Discovery of Witches and Boyhood. Currently available to Amazon Prime Video Channels, Apple TV channels, Roku Channels, Comcast Xfinity, DirecTV, DISH and Sling TV customers, AMC+ features a continually refreshed new library of commercial-free content, including Mad Men, Gangs of London, The Salisbury Poisonings, Orphan Black, Portlandia, Soulmates and The Walking Dead: World Beyond, among many others.