Australian streaming platform Stan is raising the bar for international thrillers with The Assassin, its most ambitious original production yet. Starring Freddie Highmore and Keeley Hawes, this high-stakes espionage drama blends psychological intensity with cinematic flair, offering viewers a gripping tale of trust, betrayal, and the haunting price of secrecy. With Stan striving to become a major player in global storytelling, The Assassin marks a definitive step into prestige television—and it all begins with the unlikely pairing of two of Britain’s finest actors in roles that push them to their limits.
Freddie Highmore, long adored for his nuanced portrayal of Dr. Shaun Murphy in The Good Doctor, makes a powerful leap into the world of covert intelligence. In The Assassin, he plays Nathaniel Voss, a gifted linguist and intelligence analyst with a buried past and a tendency to see patterns others miss. When a series of coordinated assassinations targets high-ranking officials across Europe, Voss is pulled into the field and forced to confront a conspiracy that stretches from London’s MI6 offices to the violent backstreets of Eastern Europe. The twist? Voss is not a seasoned spy—he’s a man trained to think, not kill—and yet survival may depend on his willingness to do both.
Opposite Highmore is the ever-formidable Keeley Hawes, stepping into the enigmatic role of Cassandra Reeve, an elite MI6 operative whose mission is as unclear as her loyalty. With her own motivations shrouded in mystery, Reeve becomes both mentor and potential threat to Voss. The two form a complex, volatile alliance, one that constantly teeters on the edge of trust and manipulation. As the body count rises and secrets unravel, it’s clear that neither of them fully understands what they’ve become part of—or what they’ll need to sacrifice to make it out alive.
The chemistry between Highmore and Hawes is electric. Their shared scenes crackle with unspoken tension and layered subtext, making even quiet conversations feel like duels. Highmore’s Voss is cerebral, uncertain, and emotionally guarded, while Hawes’s Reeve is calculated, intuitive, and unapologetically ruthless. Together, they bring an intellectual sharpness to the genre that sets The Assassin apart from formulaic spy fare.
The creative team behind The Assassin is as impressive as its cast. Showrunner Sarah Walker, known for her sharp character work on The Unlisted and Wanted, collaborates with British screenwriter David Farr (The Night Manager) to deliver a script that’s taut, intelligent, and emotionally grounded. Rather than relying on explosions and clichés, the series finds suspense in quiet conversations, shifting glances, and the ticking pressure of decisions made in moral grey zones. As Walker puts it, “This is a story about trust—not just between spies, but between viewers and characters. We want the audience to question everything.”
And question they will. Early reviewers who attended private screenings of the pilot have described The Assassin as “riveting,” “addictively cerebral,” and “a new benchmark for Stan originals.” The platform is reportedly in talks with international distributors, aiming to bring the series to wider audiences via deals with Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer. If successful, The Assassin could become Stan’s first true global hit—one that not only entertains but redefines what an Australian-led thriller can look like on the world stage.
Highmore’s performance has already drawn particular praise for its subtlety and emotional range. His portrayal of a reluctant hero—a man who wants to solve puzzles, not pull triggers—is refreshingly human in a genre often dominated by one-dimensional tough guys. Hawes, meanwhile, delivers what may be one of the most layered roles of her career. Her Cassandra Reeve is fierce, broken, and unpredictable, a woman who has survived too long in a world that eats its own.
As the season progresses, viewers can expect unexpected alliances, devastating betrayals, and a plot that challenges assumptions about who the real enemy is. The show doesn’t spoon-feed answers, instead encouraging its audience to look deeper, think critically, and accept that in the world of espionage, certainty is a luxury no one can afford. Though The Assassin stands on its own as a tightly constructed eight-part series, the showrunners have hinted that the world of Voss and Reeve could expand. “There are many stories left to tell,” Walker teased. “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
