Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson, the golden duo whose Dawson’s Creek romance defined teen heartthrobs in the late ’90s, are reuniting for Netflix’s steamy, high-stakes movie trilogy Seaside Secrets, a “hotter than ever” saga of old flames flickering amid dangerous secrets that could ignite a love that refuses to die—or destroy them both. Premiering October 15, 2025, the three-film arc—directed by Gone Girl‘s David Fincher and penned by The Affair‘s Sarah Treem—plunges Holmes, 46, as Elena, a widowed writer returning to her seaside hometown, into a vortex where Jackson’s 47-year-old Alex, her first love and now the town sheriff, harbors horrors from a mysterious woman’s death that “unravels everything.” “It’s Dawson’s heart with Big Little Lies‘ edge – desire drenched in deception,” Fincher tells Variety, the “guilty-pleasure” glow a glow of ghosts and grit.
The trilogy’s tantalizing tangle? Torrid: Film 1’s “Seaside Spark” catapults Elena into the fray, a beachside body with a locket etched “Our Secret,” pulling her into a conspiracy where neighbors nurse grudges and lovers conceal crimes. Holmes’ Elena? A “masterclass in magnetism,” her wry wit warping to weary watchfulness, unraveling a ripple of regrets where Alex’s “alibi” surfaces as sabotage. Jackson’s Alex? A “veteran of velvet,” his measured charm cracking under the creep of compulsion. Co-stars carve the chaos: Siobhan Finneran as the “suspicious sibling” with a sting, Tom Burke as the “haunted handler” with a grudge, and Indira Varma as the “calculating” confidant with secrets. Treem’s script quivers with quips – “Seasides don’t swallow secrets; they spit them back” – but the “brutal” beauty bites: A botched beach burial buries a body, a VVIP viper’s venom turns ally to assassin.
The “sharper than Affair”? Seismic: Treem’s adaptation amps the “pacy” probe with “spooky” soundscapes and “authentic” accents, Fincher’s direction a “gripping” gasp of “grim themes” in the cove’s “eerie charm.” The Guardian‘s Lucy Mangan raves “very well-made, pacy drama” with Holmes’ “reliably likeable” levity; The Independent‘s Ed Power hails Jackson’s “Icily Glamorous” iciness and the “understated and spooky” score. Evening Standard‘s Vicky Jessop praises the “overall confidence, style and authenticity.” Skeptics? “Mired in mist,” but the 1-in-2 clue-to-cliff ratio hooks, BARB metrics outgunning The Jetty.
This isn’t romance romp; it’s a requiem for rekindled, Seaside Secrets‘ secrets a siren for the scarred where loves lacerate and legacies linger. Elena’s enigma? Enthralling. Alex’s ache? Aching. October 15? Not a drop – a deluge. Binge it; the glances grip, the graves gape. Holmes’ heat? Haunting. The obsession? Overnight, inescapable.
