'The Gray House' Review: Kevin Costner's Gripping 8-Part Prime Video Miniseries Is a Must-See War Drama
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Published Feb 24, 2026, 12:01 PM EST
Maggie Lovitt is the Deputy News Editor at Collider. In addition to reporting on the latest entertainment news, she is also an actor and member of the Screen Actors Guild based out of the Mid-Atlantic Region. Lovitt is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Critics Choice Association and National Press Club.
While she spends her time writing and editing articles about the entertainment industry, Maggie’s background is actually in history and anthropology. She loves it whenever she can bring those two facets of her life together, such as with reviews for series like We Were the Lucky Onesand The New Look, and engaging interviews with talent like Ben Mendelsohn, Liev Schreiber, or Jonas Nay.
Growing up in Virginia, on the land tread upon by soldiers marching to their deaths at the first and second Battles of Bull Run, the Civil War has never been a distant memory. 161 years after the war “ended,” the evidence of one of the United States’ darkest eras is etched into historical placards, road signs, and school buildings on every corner. Everything is still named after the men who waged war against their brothers for the right to enslave and abuse Black people under the guise of “Northern oppression.” Few landmarks, however, are named in commemoration of the brave men and women who risked their lives as Union spies, Underground Railroad operators, and abolitionists. Prime Video’s harrowing new 8-part miniseries, The Gray House, spotlights a proud Virginian woman who operated a Union spy ring in the heart of the Confederacy's capital.
When Virginia's female spies are discussed, one name dominates the conversation: Belle Boyd, one of the Confederacy's most notorious spies who operated out of Martinsburg in present-day West Virginia. Admirers likened her to Joan of Arc or an Amazonian, all the while supporting an institution that sought to uphold slavery. Another pair of names is often relegated to the footnotes of history, with far less veneration than they deserve for cultivating a spy network that became one of the Union’s most relied upon sources of intelligence about Jefferson Davisand the inner workings of Richmond, Virginia. The Gray House boasts a large ensemble split across the lines of battle, but it's really the dual tale of Elizabeth Van Lew (Daisy Head), the daughter of a wealthy Richmond merchant family,and Mary Jane Richards(Amethyst Davis), an enslaved woman gathering information as a maid at Jefferson Davis’ mansion. Together, they rail against encroaching Confederate sympathies, fight for freedom, and struggle to stay alive against all odds.
Created and written by LeslieGreif, DarrellFetty, and JohnSayles and executive produced by KevinCostner and MorganFreeman, The Gray House largely follows the true events of the Civil War and the spy ring’s documented operations, with some made-for-television embellishments along the way. The most egregious sin the series commits is opting to film in Romania, rather than utilizing the local film industry that has played host to Good Lord Bird, Harriet, Lincoln, and Mercy Street. While the locations chosen bear a close enough resemblance to 1860s Richmond, the authenticity would have only added to the series’ appeal.
Beyond the prominent historical figures that must appear in a Civil War-set series — like Jefferson Davis (Sam Trammell), Ulysses S. Grant (MarcJenner), and John Wilkes Booth (Charles Craddock) — The Gray House also taps into overlooked figures like Timothy Webster (Ben Cura), a dashing Union spy who was hanged twice and whom the series transforms into a pulp-fiction, Zorro-esque masked vigilante. Additionally, The Gray House pulls from key moments in local history, such as the freak accident that killed Davis’ young son, to fuel the main storyline.
‘The Gray House’ Stays Faithful to History, Both Good and Bad
The Gray House doesn’t immediately throw audiences into the fog of war. It begins in 1861, just before Virginia secedes from the United States. Though there is an undercurrent of impending doom, the initial episodes establish Elizabeth's family dynamic with her mother, Eliza (Mary-Louise Parker), brother, John Jr. (Ewan Miller), and sister-in-law, Laurette (CatherineHannay), and underscore her positioning in society as an eligible young woman. Her would-be suitor, Hampton Arsenault (Colin Morgan), looks good on paper and at balls, but he is ideologically opposed to everything Elizabeth stands for.
By Episode 3, The Gray House introduces the fictional Captain William Lounsbury (Colin O’Donoghue), who is captured during the Battle of Bull Run. This is where the series takes on a bit more loose adherence to historical facts. While Elizabeth did assist in breaking out a pair of Union prisoners of war, an action that set her on a course to directly work for the U.S. government, there is no evidence that she became romantically entangled with any of the men she assisted. That said, Elizabeth and William’s short-lived romance is one of the best aspects of The Gray House. Head and O’Donoghue have fantastic chemistry, and the dynamic further reinforces the sacrifices made by those risking their lives to gather intel and fight for a better tomorrow.
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While much of Van Lew and Richards’ activities during the war are relegated to conjecture, The Gray House stays faithful to what life would have been like for both of them, as well as the other women around them, including Clara Parish (HannahJames), a sex worker who assists in listening and relaying information. Van Lew’s status in the community may afford her the freedom to avoid the brutal violence against women that Clara and even Laurette endure, but she still faces untold horrors in the form of witnessing her allies meet brutal fates.
One could argue that The Gray House leans into a sort of trauma porn when it comes to the violence inflicted upon women and Black characters, but the unsettling images are a brutal reminder of what really went on beyond the battlefields. Too often, Civil War films and series depict the period through a glossy lens of romanticism, but here, there are no questions about who the heroes are. It’s impossible to decouple the violence displayed within the series from the violence we bear witness to in the present; good people are fighting and dying in an ongoing struggle against a system that is still trying to dehumanize people who have been deemed as lesser.
‘The Gray House’s Ensemble Cast Makes the Prime Video Drama Stronger
Image via Prime Video
The Gray House may feature a variety of antagonists, but Paul Anderson's Stokely Reeves, a vengeful lawman and slave catcher, is the series’ truest villain. He gleefully kills men, women, and children who stand in his way, and abuses every woman who crosses his path, even when they ally themselves with him. Anderson is uncomfortably good at playing such a reprehensible character, and audiences will root for his downfall from start to finish.
Rounding out the ensemble is the abolitionist Thomas McNiven(Christopher McDonald), who works alongside Elizabeth; Isham Worthy (BenVereen), a freed man working the Underground Railroad; the notorious Confederate slave trader, Bully Lumpkin (RobertKnepper); Reverend Garnet (KeithDavid), and Talulah (CatherineGarton), Robert Ford (GeoffMac), and Mose Robinson (JohnOjeyemi), who interweave through Mary Jane’s experience at the Davis house. With such a robust cast, The Gray House does well at balancing each narrative. The characters are all well-developed, and those based on real people don’t rely solely on audiences coming into the series with historical knowledge.
The Gray House is a brutal, unrelenting exploration of the lives of history’s forgotten heroes. Though the Civil War is a well-trod backdrop, Prime Video's new miniseries strives to set itself apart with its narrative styling. The hallowed ground of battlefields may feature in a handful of scenes, but the far more compelling conflict is the battle fought on the Van Lews’ doorstep. While this series is bound to make all the right people angry, it has the stamp of approval from this tried-and-true Virginian historian who always loves to see forgotten women get the credit they deserve. Difficult as it is to watch, The Gray House is a must-see.
The Gray House premieres February 26 on Prime Video.
Image via Prime Video
Image via Prime Video
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