‘The Testaments’ Cinematographer Greta Zozula on Reimagining Gilead Without Its Most Iconic Color — Watch

Greta Zozula, cinematographer for Hulu's "The Testaments," made a deliberate visual choice that fundamentally separates the sequel from its predecessor. By deliberately removing the signature red that defined "The Handmaid's Tale," Zozula established a new visual language for the series that reflects its shifted narrative perspective and thematic concerns.

The decision to strip away that iconic color palette represents more than aesthetic preference. Red functioned as the visual shorthand for the oppressive regime of Gilead in Margaret Atwood's original adaptation, a color so dominant it became inseparable from the show's identity. For "The Testaments," Zozula needed to find a way to tell stories from inside and outside the regime without that visual anchor.

During IndieWire's Craft Roundtables, Zozula articulated how this shift in perspective demanded a reimagining of Gilead itself. The sequel, based on Atwood's 2019 novel of the same name, moves beyond the domestic spaces where red uniforms dominated and explores broader terrain. By reconsidering the color palette, Zozula avoided simply replicating what audiences already knew while maintaining visual coherence with the world that Bruce Miller and the production team had established.

The cinematographer's approach reflects broader conversations in prestige television about how sequels and spinoffs can honor their source material while carving distinct visual identities. Rather than lean on nostalgia or repetition, "The Testaments" uses Zozula's palette choices to signal evolution. The removal of that dominant red suggests a world changing, or at least being seen differently by new characters telling their stories.

This kind of intentional shift in visual language distinguishes "The Testaments" from becoming merely an extension of what came before. For a series operating in one of television's most visually codified universes, the decision to move beyond red demonstrates how cinematography can function as narrative itself, communicating thematic shifts through color and light rather than exposition.