A first glimpse at "The Handmaid's Tale" adaptation

Hulu released the first full-length trailer for its adaptation of "The Handmaid's Tale" today. The series debuts on the streaming platform on April 26.

Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel has seen a phenomenal rebound in 2017: It topped the Amazon best-seller list for several days earlier this year, despite having been published more than 30 years ago.

The novel imagines a dark, near future in which the United States government has fallen in a violent coup. A theocracy — the Republic of Gilead — rises in its place. In Gilead, women are stripped of all rights: they're fired from their jobs, their bank accounts frozen. Hundreds are sent off to reprogramming centers to serve as surrogates for the barren wives of powerful men. These surrogates are called handmaids.

The trailer introduces us to Offred, the narrator of "The Handmaid's Tale," who bristles under the restrictive patriarchy and can't help but think of her life before. Elisabeth Moss, of "Mad Men" fame, plays Offred. Samira Wiley, of "Orange is the New Black," and Alexis Bledel, of "The Gilmore Girls," also don the handmaids' signature red robes and white bonnets.

Joseph Fiennes plays the Commander, whose house Offred lives in, and whose child she is supposed to bear. The two bond in secret over books, which are contraband in Gilead. The trailer gives us their chilling exchange:

"We only wanted to make the world better," the Commander says, trying to explain his role in the government.

"Better?" she asks, incredulous.

"Better never means better for everyone," he says.

Atwood recently wrote an essay for the New York Times, looking back on the publishing life of "The Handmaid's Tale." "Back in 1984, the main premise seemed — even to me — fairly outrageous," Atwood wrote.

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