American Primeval fans take heed. Seven months after the gritty throwback Western series premiered on Netflix, acclaimed writer Mark L. Smith is exploring the great outdoors once again. This time, Smith and his daughter Ellie have created Untamed, a six-part miniseries slated to premiere on Netflix on July 17, 2025.
A perfect summer thriller, Untamed follows a National Park Service Ranger who must investigate the grisly death of a visitor in Yosemite. The star-studded cast is led by Eric Bana, Sam Neill, Rosemarie DeWitt, Wilson Bethel, and Lily Santiago. Aside from American Primeval, Mark L. Smith brings experience from a wealth of stories set in the wild to Untamed, including the three-time Oscar-winning survival tale The Revenant. Few writers have more authority on frontier living, the great outdoors, and man-versus-nature conflicts than Smith.
‘Untamed’ Is Netflix’s Newest Limited Series
What Is ‘Untamed’ About?
Untamed is a limited Netflix original series slated to air all six episodes on July 17, 2025. Created by Ellie and Mark L. Smith, the story is set in contemporary Yosemite National Park in California. When a park visitor’s body is found torn to shreds, U.S. National Park Service special investigative agent Kyle Turner (Eric Bana) is tasked with leading an investigation to determine if humans or wild animals are responsible.
As Turner ventures through the dense woods to find the killer, he uncovers buried secrets and hidden truths about the park that lead him to reconcile with his mysterious past. Sam Neill plays Paul Souter, the superior park ranger who knows the land like the back of his hand, and uses his experience to help solve the central crime. Rosemarie DeWitt plays Jill Bodwin, Turner’s ex-wife and former park counselor, who has since remarried and maintains an amicable relationship with Turner.
Helping Turner uncover the truth about the dead body in Yosemite is Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago), a police officer from Los Angeles, newly assigned to Yosemite. Along with Shane Maguire (Wilson Bethel), a former army soldier turned Yosemite wildlife manager, Turner, Souter, and Vasquez make a formidable crew. Yet, despite the stellar ensemble, the main draw for Untamed remains Mark L. Smith and his outdoor expertise.
Mark L. Smith Is a Master of Man-vs-Nature Storytelling
Mark L. Smith is a celebrated scribe who has built an impressive resume over the past 20 years. After gaining attention for writing and directing the effective 2006 horror movie Seance, Smith has gravitated toward telling stories set in the wild and the great outdoors. After penning scripts for Vacancy and Vacancy 2, Smith worked with the great Joe Dante on the 2009 movie The Hole, a kiddie horror flick set in rural Oregon about a bottomless pit in a child’s backyard.
As Smith continued to work with A-list filmmakers on stories about man fighting against nature, he reached the pinnacle of success with 2015’s The Revenant, a 12-time Oscar nominee and three-time winner, including honors for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Director (Alejandro G. Iñárritu), and Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki). Of course, The Revenant concerns Hugh Glass being mauled to near-death by a bear, a vicious survival tale that could have been titled Untamed itself.
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Beyond The Revenant, Smith continued to expand his outdoor wildlife storytelling. In 2023, he wrote the underrated Neil Burger suspense thriller The Marsh King’s Daughter, which was filmed in the Kawartha Lakes of Ontario, Canada. The same year, Smith scripted The Boys in the Boat for George Clooney, a true story about the University of Washington rowing team and their push for the Olympic Games.
Among Canada, Washington, and Oregon, Smith appears most comfortable telling stories set in the wide open expanse of the Pacific Northwest. He has become an expert at telling survival stories and tales of perseverance set in and around the woods, the wild, the water, and now, the dense woodland of Yosemite National Park.
Moving away from the West Coast, however, Smith continued the trend of man-vs-nature thrillers by writing Twisters, the successful sequel to the 1996 original about devastating tornadoes ravaging the Midwest. Once the swirling dust from Twisters cleared, Smith returned to the west to write American Primeval for director Peter Berg. For those who enjoyed the ruthless clash in the 1857 Utah War in American Primeval, or any other Smith story set in the great outdoors, Untamed is the place to be this July.
Why ‘American Primeval’ Fans Need To Watch ‘Untamed’
While Untamed‘s primary appeal remains Mark L. Smith’s wilderness specialty, there are plenty more attractions to compel viewers this summer. Firstly, both American Primeval and Untamed are six-part limited series executive-produced by Smith. Both are deliberately self-contained, do not feature unnecessary filler, and can be binged in a day or two. Those who consumed American Primeval in one gulp will quench their thirst with Untamed just the same.
Secondly, the setting is ideal for a summertime series. Never mind Smith’s bona fide track record of telling outdoor survival tales; the vicarious opportunity to travel to Yosemite and witness the glorious grandeur of nature is hard to beat. As someone who has spent time in the park and seen Half Dome and its magnificent waterfalls up close in real life, few places on Earth conjure such awe-inspiring splendor. Even when Canadian filming locations in Maple Ridge and Chip Kerr Park stand in for Yosemite, the resplendent result is the same.
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Thirdly, for those on the fence about watching Jurassic World: Rebirth on the big screen, or who are worried that no sequel will ever top the original Jurassic Park, seeing Sam Neill back in a massive wildlife park as an existential threat lurks about holds nostalgic appeal indeed. And what about Yellowstone fanatics? Hardcore fans of the hit Taylor Sheridan melodramatic Western, who were drawn to the sprawling Montana ranch, are sure to find peace and tranquility in Yosemite. At least, until more murder and mayhem ensues.
Between Mark L. Smith’s proven filmography, the similar format and structure of American Primeval, the attraction of Yosemite National Park and all its natural beauty, and a terrific cast led by Bana, Neill, and DeWitt, Untamed is poised to be Netflix’s best miniseries this summer. Untamed premieres on Netflix on July 17, 2025.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
