Books on the big screen

If you’ve read a book that’s later adapted for film or TV, you’re at an advantage. You already have a deep understanding of the story and the motivations and emotions of its characters – so now you get to sit back and enjoy seeing how the director, writers and actors transform those written words for the screen.

The titles below are all available to stream now, but none of them would exist were it not for the brilliant books that inspired them.

In Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi saga, powerful noble houses fight for control of the desert planet Arrakis – tactically important because of the presence of spice, a vital resource for space travel. After landing on Arrakis, protagonist Paul Atreides, the heir to House Atreides, is vaulted into a fight for the future of his family and the planet’s oppressed inhabitants.

The award-winning film adaptation by Denis Villeneuve, which stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, is an ambitious cinematic marvel that has been lauded for successfully bringing Herbert’s novel to life onscreen.

Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel centres on brothers Phil and George, polar opposite characters who live on their family ranch in 1920s Montana. When George meets and marries a widow named Rose, and she and her son Peter move to the ranch, the brothers’ fragile relationship becomes unbearably virulent, revealing the deep abyss between them.

Jane Campion’s acclaimed film adaptation, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kristen Dunst and Jesse Plemons, doesn’t stray too far from the original book, but there’s one interesting storyline it doesn’t explore – the backstory of Rose’s deceased husband. Without giving too much away, anyone who’s read the book will more deeply understand Rose’s disdain for Phil.

In the 1937 Agatha Christie novel, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is trying to relax on a holiday cruise along the Nile. But there’s no rest for Christie’s protagonist – he’s pulled into a murder case onboard and must find the culprit among the motive-laden travellers.

In Kenneth Branagh’s big-screen adaptation, in which he stars alongside Gal Gadot and Annette Bening, the biggest difference in comparison to the novel is the characters. There are several new faces onboard, while some characters from Christie’s book don’t appear at all. Nonetheless, it still captures the mystery, drama and humour of its source material.

Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist J.R. Moehringer’s 2005 memoir is based on his early years in New York. Growing up without his dad, the young Moehringer found solace in the support of the father-like figures who frequented the bar where his uncle Charlie worked. The bar becomes a second home, a place where he grows into a man and dreams of becoming a writer.

George Clooney’s film version starring Ben Affleck features only minor divergences from the original book. For example, the film omits the fact that Moehringer only came up with the idea of working on his memoir after two decades working as a journalist.

Emily St. John Mandel’s 2014 dystopian novel is set 20 years after a pandemic that led to the collapse of civilisation. With flashbacks to the time before intertwined with the present, St. John Mandel’s flair for seamlessly pulling the strings of her characters’ lives together builds a thought-provoking, human-centred narrative, one that will stay with you long after the final chapter.

In the series (which was produced by St. John Mandel), the relationship between Kirsten (Mackenzie Davis) and Jeevan (Himesh Patel) is given much more space to evolve.

In William Landay’s 2012 novel, a family’s life is upended when teenager Jacob is accused of murdering a student in his class. His parents do everything they can to protect him, but reach their limits mentally and legally.

Differences between the book and the series, which stars Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery, emerge at the end. The storyline around Jacob’s holiday sweetheart differs in the book, and the grand finale in the series is unlike the original – but we’ll let you find out for yourself!

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