Yaga, the new project starring Heated Rivalry‘s Hudson Williams, is all set for spooky season.
On Friday, the first trailer dropped for the eight-episode AMC+ series, which got a sneak peek earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival — eliciting headlines like “Fans go gaga for ‘Yaga’ star Hudson Williams.” Set to an atmospheric cover of Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” by Alanis Morissette, the preview reveals Williams at the center of a missing-persons case that may involve the mythical Eastern European Baba Yaga, a child-hungry, woods-dwelling witch.
Here’s everything you need to know about Yaga.
THE PLOT
Schitt’s Creek alum Noah Reid stars as Rapp, a private investigator who arrives in the small coastal town of Whittock to investigate the disappearance of Henry Park (Williams), the young heir to a powerful fishery.
Noah Reid and Clark BackoAMC+
Rapp soon finds himself at odds with Carson (Clark Backo, Venom: The Last Dance), an apprehensive local detective; Katherine (Carrie-Anne Moss, The Matrix), a charismatic university professor with a taste for younger men; and a labyrinth of enigmatic suspects, secret lives, and ancient magic.
Moss
THE CAST
Aside from Reid, Moss, Williams, and Backo, the ensemble includes Sheila McCarthy, Megan Follows, Ezra Franky, Patrick Gilmore, Katharine Isabelle, Hiro Kanagawa, Emilija Baranac, Georgia Acken, Anisa Harris, and Sam Krochmal.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
Yaga is based on the play by Kat Sandler, who also serves as writer, showrunner and executive producer.
David Frazee and Rachel Talalay serve as co-directors. Mackenzie Donaldson, Andrew Miller and Carrie-Anne Moss are executive producers, and Charles Cooper is a producer.
The series is produced by Blink49 Studios and Front Street Pictures in association with Bell Media, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Rogers Series Fund and the Bell Fund. Yaga is a Crave Original series.
WilliamsAMC+
THE RELEASE DATE
Yaga will premiere with two episodes on Oct. 23, exclusively on AMC+ in the United States. New episodes will debut Fridays, leading to a two-episode finale on Nov. 27.
‘Yaga’AMC+
THE AWARDS PROSPECTS
Like Heated Rivalry, Yaga was created in Canada by Bell Media for the Crave streaming service, which means it won’t be able to compete for the 2027 Primetime Emmys. The series could, however, be submitted for the International Emmy Awards, which honor programming from outside the U.S.
That said, reviewers liked what they saw from the the first two episodes of Yaga that premiered at TIFF, with the show scaring up a 9.1 rating on IMDb.