Netflix Is Officially Adapting Bella Mackie’s How To Kill Your Family

One of 2021’s hottest books is officially coming to the small screen thanks to the team at Netflix. Here’s everything we know so far about the TV adaptation of Bella Mackie’s 2021 novel, How To Kill Your Family.

Netflix’s How To Kill Your Family: Plot, Cast, Release Date

Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin in 20th Century Studios’ THE NEW MUTANTS. (Photo by Claire Folger. © 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.)

What Is How To Kill Your Family About?

How To Kill Your Family is an upcoming eight-part Netflix series centring on the murderous Grace Bernard, the child of a merciless, social-climbing billionaire who claims to not remember his affair with Grace’s mother, Simon Artemis. When her mother dies, Grace is left to fend for herself, rejected by the people who are supposed to love her. With rage bubbling up inside her, Grace transforms her anger into something useful: killing off each and every member of her estranged family through morbidly creative means, clawing her way to revenge – and a hefty inheritance to boot.

A ruthless Villanelle style character, series writer Emma Moran says she felt an ‘immediate kinship’ with Grace. Worrying? ‘She’s the kind of complicated, dark, but utterly hilarious antihero you dream of writing,’ Emma told Netflix. ‘Striking that balance between camp fun and brutal violence that Bella hits so perfectly in the book is a challenge I’m so looking forward to. I’ve never had more fun on a project with such a high body count.’

If the Killing Eve similarities are sticking out to you, here’s another tidbit: How To Kill Your Family is produced by Sid Gentle Films Ltd. – the team behind Killing Eve – in its first stint for the streaming giant.

Is It Based On A Book?

Yes, How To Kill Your Family is based on Bella Mackie’s 2021 novel of the same name, which has sold a whopping 1.2 million copies to date. ‘It’s been thrilling to watch the characters I wrote take on new life under this magnificent creative team,’ Mackie said. ‘Pairing up with Sid Gentle has been joyful, and introducing me to Emma has made me supremely confident the book is in safe hands.’

Who Will Star?

Netflix darling Anya Taylor-Joy has snapped up the leading role in the Mackie adaptation, playing Grace – although there’s no news just yet on who might join her for the limited series. Taylor-Joy ‘is the most perfect fit to play Grace,’ according to Mackie, who created the forgotten child of merciless billionaire, Simon Artemis. ‘I often think she understands her better than I do.’

Taylor-Joy is best known for her leading breakout role in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, but more recently has starred in Last Night in Soho (2021), The Menu (2022) and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024). ‘As soon as I turned the last page, I knew I had to be a part of bringing this story to life,’ Taylor-Joy told Netflix. ‘After some (light) stalking of the inimitable Bella Mackie, I could not be more thrilled to be collaborating with the team that is executive producers Sally Woodward Gentle, Lizzie Rusbridger, and Emma. I am looking forward to getting our hands even dirtier.’

Release Date

No news just yet on when we can expect to see How To Kill Your Family on the small screen. It’s early days, so we will be lucky to see it before the end of 2025. Watch this space for updates.