While Prime Video’s 56 Days might not stick with the ending of the show’s source novel, this decision is indicative of a larger trend in hit adaptations of psychological thriller books. There can be no doubt about it. 2026 is definitely the year of the psychological thriller adaptation on streaming services.
Between Netflix’s hit Alice Feeney adaptation, His & Hers, outdoing Stranger Things, and 56 Days topping Prime Video’s streaming charts, psychological thrillers have come to dominate the most-watched lists worldwide. This could be great news for producers, since these shows tend to be cheaper to produce than, for example, an ambitious post-apocalyptic sci-fi show.
However, it does pose a problem for one unexpected group. As Prime Video’s 8-part adaptation of 56 Days becomes a massive streaming success, the question of how the show and ones like it can manage to satisfy both newcomers and fans of the original novel comes into sharp relief. After all, psychological thrillers typically live or die by their endings.
56 Days Changes The Novel’s Ending Completely
Prime Video’s 56 Days stars Dove Cameron and Avan Jogia as Ciara and Oliver, a couple whose short-lived, intense relationship ends with the police discovering a decaying, unidentifiable body in the bathtub of Oliver’s swanky apartment. Like many psychological thriller shows, 56 Days then bounces back and forth between the past and present to untangle this mystery.
Published in 2021, Irish author Catherine Ryan Howard’s psychological thriller novel of the same name focuses on this young couple as they start a passionate romantic relationship that soon turns, unexpectedly, into cohabitation. In the original book, the pair are forced to live together in Oliver’s Dublin apartment thanks to Ireland’s COVID-19 lockdowns.
The book is set at the beginning of the pandemic, meaning the phenomenon of lockdowns offers an explanation for the couple’s overnight cohabitation. Since Oliver and Ciara seem to barely know each other, this plot device conveniently justifies their surprising decision to move in together almost immediately.
Predictably enough, 56 Days jettisons the COVID-19 era period of the book, along with its Dublin setting. Since shows like Station Eleven hit a nerve upon release by reminding viewers about the pandemic too soon, it is understandable that a twisty erotic thriller, which aims to function as escapist entertainment, would make this change.
What is less expected is the show’s completely new ending to its story. In the series, Oliver and Ciara end up happily living together with a child after all of their various double crosses are revealed, and the body in the bathtub turns out to be an unrelated third character. Without spoiling the source noble, suffice it to say, this is a major change.
Prime Video’s 56 Days Faced A Common Psychological Thriller Adaptation Problem
Oliver and Ciara’s unexpectedly happy ending is a fun twist that ensures 56 Days doesn’t feel as heavy as the show might have, considering its plot does center on Oliver’s guilt over his accidental involvement with a death years earlier. Ciara’s brother took the fall for this death and ultimately took his life as a result, meaning this optimistic ending is a big reprieve.
It would have been easy for the psychological thriller’s campy fun to be bogged down by a brutally sad ending, so the surprising idealism of the show’s twist is welcome. However, like 2025’s superb psychological thriller The Girlfriend, this twist does highlight a major issue with adaptations of novels from this specific genre.
As is the case with traditional murder mysteries, psychological thrillers live or die by their endings. However, when a book’s ending feels clever, unpredictable, and fitting, this leaves the show’s creators in an impossible catch-22. Keep the original book’s ending, and it’s going to be predictable for anyone who’s read it.
Change the ending, and it’s potentially going to annoy fans who wanted a faithful adaptation, not mention the fact that this new twist ending could be less clever and inventive than the original. This is certainly what happened with Netflix’s adaptation of Ruth Ware’s The Woman in Cabin 10, a thriller that tacked a new ending onto a perfectly good novel.
Why Prime Video’s New 56 Days Ending Worked
This resulted in an adaptation that made no one happy, although it is easy to see why the filmmakers felt the need to diverge from the existing plot. While original psychological thrillers like M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant don’t struggle with this issue, since they have no source material, it can be a real problem for book adaptations.
Luckily for viewers, 56 Days managed to sidestep this common problem by making a series of smart decisions earlier in the show’s production. The show changed a lot of the novel’s details well before the ending, from its geographical setting to the pivotal role that COVID-19 plays in the plot, so Prime Video’s show was never going to be faithful.
Prime Video’s Upcoming Psychological Thriller Is A Fitting Replacement For Netflix’s #1 Series
Two perspectives, one chilling mystery – A twisted tale of love and deception unfolds in this suspenseful thriller that will leave you breathless.
Since the adaptation had already changed smaller, more formative story details anyway, the new twist didn’t feel like a last-second attempt to surprise viewers who were familiar with the book. Instead, 56 Days was the ideal thriller adaptation, as a show that captured the essence of the source novel but changed enough to feel fresh, original, and surprising.
- Release Date
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2026 – 2026-00-00
- Network
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Prime Video
- Directors
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Alethea Jones
Cast
