Carnival Row mixes fantasy with the plight of refugees

Carnival Row is an Amazon Original fantasy drama series from Legendary Television starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne, It is set to premiere Friday, August 30, 2019, in over 200 countries. Although select attendees at San Diego Comic-Con were treated to a special viewing of the first two episodes.

Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Delevingne (Suicide Squad) star in Carnival Row, a series set in a Victorian fantasy world filled with mythological immigrant creatures whose exotic homelands were invaded by the empires of man. This growing population struggles to coexist with humans — forbidden to live, love, or fly with freedom. Rycroft Philostrate (Bloom), and a refugee faerie named Vignette Stonemoss (Delevingne) rekindle a dangerous affair despite an increasingly intolerant society.

Although the show is based in the realm of fantasy, the plight of the faerie and creature refugees is not unlike what many refugees face today. The dangers, struggles, and violence they endure all in hopes of a better life.  The show is extremely relatable in terms of what we see on the news in our everyday lives, and how a community can become divided due to racism, corruption, differing opinions on immigration and an inability to see others as equals.

Joining Bloom and Delevingne, the series also stars David Gyasi (Interstellar) as Agreus, a mysteriously wealthy faun who moves into an affluent human neighborhood in defiance of the social order, Karla Crome (Under the Dome) as Tourmaline, a quick-witted faerie poet driven from her war-torn homeland, Indira Varma (Game of Thrones) as Piety Breakspear, the regal and cunning matriarch of the powerful family that rules the city of The Burgue, and Tamzin Merchant (Salem) as Imogen Spurnrose, a young woman who sees in Agreus an opportunity to turn her aristocratic family’s fading fortunes around.

Carinal Row premieres Friday, August 30, 2019, on Amazon Prime Video.