'The North Water' Trailer: Whale Hunter Colin Farrell Goes Mad In The Arctic In New AMC Limited Series

The harsh elements are the least of everyone's worries in The North Water trailer. The new AMC limited series follows a whaling ship in the Arctic that descends into chaos, with Colin Farrell going full-crazy to play a harpooner who seems to revel in the spilling of blood. In other words, The North Water doesn't look like a laid-back, family-friendly show. Take a look at the bleak trailer below.

Set sail with The North Water, a show that's going to bring an icy chill to the heat of mid-July. Based on the novel by Ian McGuire, the limited series follows a whaling expedition to the Arctic in the 1850s. The series starts off in Hull, England before moving to the ice floes of the Arctic, and follows "the story of Patrick Sumner (Jack O'Connell), a disgraced ex-army surgeon who signs up as the ship's doctor on a whaling expedition to the Arctic. But the ferocity of the elements is matched by the violence of his crewmates, particularly Henry Drax (Colin Farrell), a harpooner and distinctly brutal force of nature. As the true purpose of the expedition becomes clear, confrontation between the two men erupts, taking them on a journey far from solid ground and way beyond the safe moorings of civilization."

Andrew Haigh (45 Years) adapts the book and directs, and the cast also includes Stephen Graham, one of those character actors I'm always happy to see (even when he shows up to a meeting wearing shorts). All in all, The North Water looks compelling. The bleak Arctic setting is reminding me of another AMC series, the excellent The Terror. In fact, this just looks like The Terror without supernatural elements. Look for it on AMC starting July 15, with new episodes debuting every Thursday through August 12.

To make things even more extreme, the series was shot on location in the Arctic, "shooting on the frozen seas north of the Svalbard Archipelago," with the cast and production team sailing "as far as 81 degrees north to film sequences in the pack ice, the furthest point north it is believed a drama series has ever filmed before." Sounds intense – I sure hope it was worth it.

For more info on The North Water, here's a synopsis of the book that inspired the limited series:

Behold the man: stinking, drunk, and brutal. Henry Drax is a harpooner on the Volunteer, a Yorkshire whaler bound for the rich hunting waters of the arctic circle. Also aboard for the first time is Patrick Sumner, an ex-army surgeon with a shattered reputation, no money, and no better option than to sail as the ship's medic on this violent, filthy, and ill-fated voyage.

In India, during the Siege of Delhi, Sumner thought he had experienced the depths to which man can stoop. He had hoped to find temporary respite on the Volunteer, but rest proves impossible with Drax on board. The discovery of something evil in the hold rouses Sumner to action. And as the confrontation between the two men plays out amid the freezing darkness of an arctic winter, the fateful question arises: who will survive until spring?