Everyone has that one book they read on a plane or a beach that felt like a movie before the credits even rolled. For millions, that was Ruth Ware's 2016 smash hit. Now, the The Women in Cabin 10 movie is finally emerging from development hell, and honestly, it’s about time.
Netflix snagged the rights. They didn't just grab the book; they lined up Keira Knightley to lead the charge. If you’ve followed the "domestic noir" trend—think Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train—you know these adaptations are hit or miss. But there's something specific about the claustrophobia of a luxury cruise ship that makes this project feel different. It's isolated. It’s rich. It’s terrifying because there is literally nowhere to run but into the freezing North Sea.
What is The Women in Cabin 10 movie actually about?
If you haven't read the book, the setup is pretty simple but deeply effective. Knightley plays Lo Blacklock, a travel journalist who gets the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a boutique luxury cruise ship with only a handful of cabins.
It’s supposed to be a career-making break.
Then she sees a woman being thrown overboard.
The kicker? All the passengers are accounted for. The cabin next door, Cabin 10, is supposed to be empty. No one believes her. The crew thinks she's unstable, and because she’s been drinking and taking medication to cope with a recent trauma back home, she starts to doubt her own eyes.
The The Women in Cabin 10 movie has to nail that gaslighting. If the audience doesn't feel Lo's crumbling sanity, the whole thing falls apart. Unlike a standard "whodunit," this is a "did it even happen?" mystery.
The cast and the creative engine behind the scenes
Keira Knightley is the anchor here. We’ve seen her do period pieces for decades, but she’s at her best when she’s playing someone slightly frayed at the edges. Think Colette or even her work in Boston Strangler. She has this nervous energy that fits Lo Blacklock perfectly.
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Netflix hasn't just thrown a big name at the screen and hoped for the best. They brought in Simon Stone to direct. You might know him from The Dig, which was also a Netflix production. Stone has a way of making environments feel like characters. In The Dig, it was the damp, heavy earth of Suffolk; here, it’ll be the sleek, cold steel of the Aurora Borealis.
The script is handled by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse. They worked together on Rebecca, another adaptation of a classic psychological thriller. While Rebecca had mixed reviews, it showed they know how to handle high-society paranoia.
Why the setting is the real star
Most movies use locations. This movie is its location.
The ship in the book isn't a massive Royal Caribbean vessel with 5,000 people and a water slide. It’s tiny. It’s an "ultra-luxury" yacht. That creates a specific kind of horror. In a big city, you can disappear. On a yacht in the middle of the ocean, you are constantly being watched by the very people who might be trying to kill you.
I’ve always thought that the best thrillers use wealth as a weapon. In the The Women in Cabin 10 movie, the luxury is suffocating. The velvet curtains, the expensive champagne, the polished wood—it all masks the fact that Lo is trapped in a floating tin can with a murderer.
Addressing the "unreliable narrator" problem
Let's be real for a second. The "unreliable narrator" trope is a bit exhausted. We've seen it a thousand times.
What makes the The Women in Cabin 10 movie tricky is that Lo isn't just "crazy." She's suffering from PTSD after a break-in at her apartment. The movie needs to handle this with some nuance. If they just make her look like a "hysterical woman," it’s going to feel dated and honestly, a bit offensive.
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The production needs to lean into the physical evidence. The smeared blood. The handprint on the glass. The things Lo sees that the crew "cleans up" before anyone else can verify them. That’s where the tension lives. It’s not about whether she’s dreaming; it’s about how someone is gaslighting her with professional precision.
The journey from page to screen
Ruth Ware’s book stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for ages. It’s a "popcorn" read, but it has teeth. Interestingly, the movie rights were actually optioned years ago, back in 2017, shortly after the book took off.
So why the delay?
Hollywood is weird. Sometimes projects just sit in a drawer. Sometimes they wait for the right star to become available. Having Keira Knightley sign on was the green light this project needed to actually move into production.
There's also the "Cruiseline Horror" sub-genre to consider. We haven't had a really good one in a while. Triangle (2009) was great but it was more of a mind-bending sci-fi. Ghost Ship was... well, Ghost Ship. This movie is aiming for something more sophisticated. It’s trying to be Knives Out meets The Shining.
What to expect from the Netflix adaptation
Expect changes. You have to.
A book allows you to stay inside a character's head for 300 pages. A movie has to show you that internal struggle. I wouldn't be surprised if the The Women in Cabin 10 movie expands the roles of the other passengers to make it more of an ensemble piece.
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In the book, some of the secondary characters can feel a bit like cardboard cutouts. The movie has a chance to flesh them out. Who is the tech mogul? Who is the aging socialite? Every single person on that boat needs to feel like they have a secret they’d kill to keep.
Is it going to be a "straight" adaptation?
Probably not. Netflix likes to tweak endings to make them more cinematic. The ending of the book is polarizing. Some people love the frantic escape; others think it goes a bit off the rails.
I suspect the film will tighten the third act. We need a confrontation that feels earned. We need to see Lo reclaim her agency. The book spends a lot of time with her in captivity, which works on the page but can feel stagnant on screen if not handled carefully.
Why the "Domestic Noir" genre still kills it
People keep saying the genre is dead. They said it after Gone Girl. They said it after The Woman in the Window (which, let's be honest, wasn't great).
But we keep coming back.
Why? Because there is something inherently terrifying about the people we think we know—or the places where we are supposed to be safe—turning against us. The The Women in Cabin 10 movie taps into that primal fear. You’re on vacation. You’ve paid thousands of dollars. You’re supposed to be pampered. Instead, you’re fighting for your life while people offer you hors d'oeuvres.
Practical steps for fans and viewers
If you're looking forward to this release, here is how to prep so you actually enjoy the experience:
- Read the book first, but don't get married to it. Ruth Ware’s prose is great for atmosphere, but movies are a different medium. Expect the "middle" of the movie to move much faster than the book.
- Watch Simon Stone's previous work. Specifically The Dig. It’ll give you a sense of his visual style. He’s not a "jump scare" director; he’s an atmosphere director.
- Keep an eye on the rating. If this comes in as a PG-13, expect a more psychological focus. If it’s TV-MA or R, they might lean into the visceral horror of the crime Lo witnesses.
- Don't Google the ending. Seriously. Even if you think you know how these stories go, Ware usually tosses in a curveball that shifts the motivation of the killer.
The The Women in Cabin 10 movie is currently in a phase where details are trickling out. Production is largely kept under wraps to maintain the mystery, but the buzz is real. It’s one of the few upcoming thrillers that actually has the literary pedigree and the acting muscle to be more than just another "scroll-past" Netflix title.
Keep your expectations measured, but keep your eyes on the horizon. This ship is finally sailing.