Netflix’s ‘Pieces of Her’ Season 1: What We Know So Far

The plot synopsis for Pieces of Her is quite lengthy compared to usual TV synopses, but it does its job at explaining the series premise quite well:

“What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all? Andrea knows everything about her mother, Laura. She knows she’s spent her whole life in the small beachside town of Belle Isle; she knows she’s never wanted anything more than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she’s never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don’t we? But all that changes when a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different.

For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one would ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again. The police want answers and Laura’s innocence is on the line, but she won’t speak to anyone, including her own daughter. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumb trail of her mother’s past. And if she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them.”

Who is cast in Pieces of Her?

From left: Toni Collette (Laura Oliver), Bella Heathcote (Andrea Oliver), David Wenham (Jasper Queller)

The three main cast members of Pieces of Her have been announced throughout the past few months. Primetime Emmy and Golden Globes winner Toni Collette will play Laura Oliver, the mother with a mysterious past life. On surface, Laura is described as “seemingly the perfect Southern woman, devoted to her work as a speech pathologist and to her disaffected daughter, Andy.”

Bella Heathcote, known for her roles in Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle and The Neon Demon, will play Andy Oliver, Laura’s daughter who embarks on a journey to discover her mother’s past. Heathcote’s role is described as “a college dropout living in her mother’s garage apartment, aimless and struggling for direction and the complete opposite of her mother.”

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings actor David Wenham will play Jasper Queller, a man from Laura’s secret past life. Pieces of Her will be Wenham’s and Collette’s third collaboriation after 1996’s “Cosi” and 1998’s “The Boys”.

How many episodes will Pieces of Her have?

The first season of the series will have eight one-hour episodes which is the standard length for a Netflix season.

What’s the production status on Pieces of Her?

The first season of Pieces of Her has been in pre-production for some time before the global pandemic and was due to begin filming in Spring 2020, but the production was forced to shut down. Later, production was rescheduled to August 2020 but was delayed again.

Now, according to Production Weekly, filming is currently planned to begin in January 2021 and wrap in June of that year. Filming will take place in Sydney, Australia and Vancouver, Canada.

When will Pieces of Her be released on Netflix?

No release date has been announced by Netflix, but considering the current production schedule, it would be fair to expect the first season of Pieces of Her sometime between late 2021 and early 2022. If filming indeed starts in January, there is still a chance for a late 2021 release, but if the production gets delayed again, the series will 100% premiere in 2022.