Having seen many social media ads, I finally succumbed to watching Seeking Persephone (2026). And … meh? The costumes were just OK, but the whole story didn’t make a lot of sense. This could have been a one-line review, but I watched the whole four hours of the series, and I’m left confused, annoyed, and dissatisfied enough to give a bit more of a review.
The plot makes no sense, and I’m left with so many questions. Why does the Duke offer marriage to Persephone in the first place??? This is the crux of the story, and it’s never explained. Supposedly it’s a metaphor of Persephone and Hades, or possibly a ‘Beauty and the Beast’ story, if the internets are to be believed. But neither fits accurately to what goes on in this miniseries. There’s no chemistry between the leads, none implied, and extremely little develops in any reasonable fashion. Why does this story even start?
There’s more chemistry between the Duke and his male BFF, and I kept thinking he married Persephone as a beard because he and Harry are really in love. I just don’t understand any of the supposed relationships in this story!
More Questions:
- What’s the problem with Persephone’s father? Is he mentally ill? He can’t care for his family for an unexplained reason, then at Persephone’s wedding, he spaces out and wanders around the chapel.
- Why is Persephone’s second youngest sister, Daphne, ignored? When she’s introduced, only Persephone pays attention to her, then she kind of disappears.
- Why is Persephone’s very youngest sister, Artemis, such a brat? It’s a very cliched “baby of the family” vibe.
- What was the problem between the Duke’s parents and why is his mom like that now? The Duke talks to his dead father’s portrait, his mom is weirdly flirty with everyone at the wedding, it’s all a strange dynamic.
- Why does the Duke have a scar? Why does it disappear in some scenes?
- Does Harry have a life outside of the Duke? He seems to live at the Duke’s castle, and when Harry tries to leave once, he fucks it up and comes back.
- Why is there a box covered by a tablecloth on the breakfast table? I stared at that in every scene.
- What’s the deal with the wolves? They howl every night, inspiring Persephone to sleep in the Duke’s bed (but no sex please, we’re Mormon, according to the internets). Is this symbolic of something more? Or just another weaksauce plot device?
Best review from Reddit: “It was nice background noise while I reorganized my pantry.”
I should not be surprised that the costumes are just as lackluster as the plot. This is designer Emily Jacobson’s only credit on IMDB, and I’d have been fine if she used a bunch of rentals. But six people are listed as “stitcher” on IMDB, so a lot of this junk seems to have been custom-made for the series. This is proof that you can get a lot of the things we complain about right, yet still have costumes that don’t work.
Like hairpins, oh yeah, they are used here for adult female characters, but the hairstyles don’t accurately reflect the historical period. It’s all just Big Hair.
It’s all the characters too, not just Persephone. Her second-oldest sister Athena wears this scraggly messy updo:
Instead of:
And a visiting pastor’s wife also has Big Modern Hair:
Want an updo with braids? Try more like this fashion plate:
Some of the costumes are Just Fine, like the blue riding habit Persephone gets post-marriage.
But her gowns for the few fancy events just miss the mark.
One good thing is how the show gives characters outerwear when they’re outside (none of this wandering around in short sleeves all the time; yes I’m talking about you Bridgerton).
Overall, though, the costumes leave me questioning someone’s taste level.
Do you need something to play in the background while cleaning house? If so, seek out Persephone!
Find this frock flick at:
It’s distributed by Angel Studios (aka the Mormon studio behind such questionable films as Sound of Freedom and the proudly in-part AI generated Young Washington) so that tells me everything I need to know about it. Side note, I love the headline for one of the top reviews of the book version on GoodReads – “Where was the romance? Is she in the room?”
Pretty bad. Watched while sewing.
Wolves not present in England … and he needs an air but they don’t kiss or anything …apparently there’s a series on each ‘sister,’ and one becomes Harry’s plus one.
…is this based on the Sarah Eden books?
That’s disappointing. I liked those books.
I tapped out after about half an hour, but did read a plot summary to try to answer some of the opening questions. It doesn’t seem like he saw her and needed to possess her, because that would be too passionate, and it doesn’t seem like their fathers were friends and so the current Duke feels a duty to help the family, because that would be too logical. The Duke is rich – sooo rich, can you believe he would marry this country mouse?- that he doesn’t have to marry for money, so he basically just heard there was a woman of acceptable social class in the vicinity and decided to buy her in marriage. Why? Because dukes must marry and no one would ever marry him for love because he is sooooo hideous. This is a belief his beautiful mother (shades of Venus/Aphrodite in Cupid and Psyche) enforces, since she can’t stand having a child who isn’t physically perfect. Apparently he was born with only one ear or one full ear, and the scars are from surgery to try to make his affected ear look better. Why that would make scars down his cheek is unclear, but maybe the 1790s sedation failed and he moved around during the procedure.
lol 😂 I tapped out after 5 minutes. That acting was worthy of Snark Week.
Also, pretty sure that wolves have been extinct in England since the Stone Age.
Just looked it up, and apparently wolves were hunted to extinction in Britain in the 17th century. They’ve only just been reintroduced in Scotland.
Can you believe this is a crowd funded project? Actual people wanted this to get this produced! The more you know!
The marriage was suggested by the Duke’s accountant as the Duke needs an heir (and I assume the accountant knows a family that desperately needs the money). Persephone accepts because her family needs the money and she knows it may be her only chance at marriage. He also feels ugly and insecure so is slow to thinking she could love him. He did not expect that such a beautiful woman would accept his offer.
The scars are from botched surgeries to “find” the ear he was born without, with no luck.
The covered box on the table is because the castle where it was filmed would not let them move the glass box with artifacts, so they had to just cover it. I wondered about this too so I did the research.
This has a very low budget so they did what they could with the costumes.
Harry feels indebted to the Duke because he “saved” him when he was being bullied as a young boy.
I also was very irritated by the youngest sister.
It is an Utah based studio but I understand it’s not “Mormon”. It’s kind of Hallmark but has a bunch of films and series in its catalog.
I hope this clarifies things.
The problem is that none of this comes thru in the actual filmed production. The story & acting are incredibly weak in conveying any believable plot.
It is all there. Mayby you should have been a little more attentive. You actually seem to have missed a lot.
Nope, it’s a crappy production all-around & we all agree, except for stilly stans like you who keep creating fake accounts to defend it. Get your own blog to praise this junk!
Thank you for, “I can feel the polyester through the screen.”
So it sounds like this was based on a book, but the plot (kudos to the people who posted summaries) sounds like any number of Regency romance novels, from Georgette Heyer or Barbara Cartland (cf. A Hazard Of Hearts, as reviewed here) up to recently written ones. I wonder why Angel Studios (presumably hoping to ride the coattails of stuff like Bridgerton) chose to adapt this particular book?
This almost looks like it could have been a satirical comedy, based on some of the facial expressions, such a missed opportunity.
I haven’t finished it yet. But I found the costumes a bit sloppy. And I thought Episode 3 dragged the series.
It looks bland. I’d rather rewatch Anya Taylor-Joy’s Emma.
I.Just.Can’t.
I watched the trailer and found that kind of confusing. I won’t be watching the series…
I will never understand who decided
Gen Z would be traumatized if they saw characters with actual hair and attire of the era being portrayed. Was a survey done? And they insisted they couldn’t be bothered to learn even this little bit while enjoying a movie?
I watched it (and then because I like misery, I then read the book) and kept thinking, you are not getting an heir if you don’t stick it in. I remember seeing in the credits the Utah crew and I was very confused. What got me was how it seemed to jump all around, like scenes were cut. Then I read the book it was the same! I was looking forward to the site reviewing it.
I thought of y’all when I saw the sister’s dark roots showing through her blonde dye job. Also read somewhere that this was produced by Elon Musk’s sister’s production company. Yuck!