23/02/2026 - The title revisits the life and abuse of a bestselling Czech romance author, not in a crime reconstruction but in a study of toxic relationships, domestic violence and psychological manipulation

The Czech miniseries Monyová by Zuzana Kirchnerová has just been showcased in the Berlinale Series Market (read news). Produced as a Oneplay Original by Klára Follová, the six-part drama traces the trajectory of Simona Monyová - one of the Czech Republic’s most commercially successful authors, whose romantic fiction attracted a vast readership between the late 1990s - and her murder in 2011. Rather than reconstructing the crime or focusing on the perpetrator, the series positions itself as a psychological study of how emotional manipulation and control can gradually escalate into fatal domestic abuse.

Rejecting linear biography and forensic reconstruction, the story charts the evolution of an apparently ideal romance as Monyová’s career flourishes, only to reveal a relationship increasingly defined by psychological domination. Kirchnerová has stressed her distinctly authored visual strategy: “I didn’t want to film it in a documentary or raw style. She wrote romantic novels, so I wanted the series to reflect that world, and then gradually undermine it.” The early episodes unfold, in her words, “almost in a pink, romantic register” and gradually become darker, formally mirroring the intoxicating “honeymoon” phase often described by survivors before the relationship shifts towards emotional and visual constraint.

Follová frames Monyová as a socially driven event miniseries rather than a sensationalised crime project. Developed over more than two years for Oneplay’s flagship “true story” slot, the project arose from the conviction that Monyová’s fate had never been meaningfully dramatised. “It felt absolutely necessary to do, because it’s such a fundamental and urgent topic,” she explains, pointing to the persistent taboos surrounding domestic violence. For the producer, the case carries particular resonance, given that it revolves around a financially independent, highly visible public figure whose life nonetheless ended in fatal abuse, challenging assumptions that such violence is confined to marginalised environments. A key condition to the series’ production was the co-operation of Monyová’s family, especially her sons.

Kirchnerová - whose feature debut Caravan [+see also:
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interview: Zuzana Kirchnerová
film profile] premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard last year - approached the material as a character-driven study. “She was interested in Simona as a woman, a writer, a personality, and giving a voice back to her,” notes Follová. At the same time, the director underscores the project’s export potential: “You don’t need to know who Monyová was. What matters is the experience of being a strong woman and still finding yourself trapped.”

Head writer Barbora Námerová (Nightsiren [+see also:
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interview: Tereza Nvotová
film profile]) created the series alongside Follová and Marta Fenclová, leading a writers’ room that drew on archival materials, testimonies and Monyová’s own books. Tereza Ramba (Owners [+see also:
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interview: Petr Zelenka
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trailer
film profile]). Kirchnerová prioritised careful preparation and consultation when staging intimacy and violence within the series, to ensure the subject was tackled responsibly. The series has already won the Primetime Killer Award for Best Central and Eastern European TV Series at the eighth edition of the Serial Killer International Festival of TV and Web Series (read news).

Produced by Oneplay/TV Nova with Film & Roll, the series was supported by the Czech Audiovisual Fund and the South Moravian Film Fund. A 2026 premiere is planned in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.