In an interview from IndieWire’s 2026 Craft Roundtable, cinematographer Greta Zozula explains how she helped shape “The Testaments” by changing the show’s tone and color—ditching the red associated with “The Handmaid’s Tale” and building a more open, softer wo
Few television universes are as instantly recognizable as Gilead—its harsh geometry, its moral menace, its signature visual language. When cinematographer Greta Zozula stepped into Hulu’s “The Testaments. ” one of her first creative jobs was to revisit that world without simply reprinting what viewers already knew from “The Handmaid’s Tale.”.
Speaking during IndieWire’s 2026 Craft Roundtable for cinematography, Zozula said the key starting point wasn’t plot or production design. It was tone, and the way color could carry it.
“The initial conversations were really about tone and color. Color was a big thing,” Zozula said. “When you think of handmaids, you think of red, and that was the color that we completely got rid of. And so those were the initial conversations. Then. we wanted to create a different perspective entirely — to create more openness and a softer environment because ultimately the perspective that we’re coming into is a lot more. hopefully. is Agnes McKenzie.”.
That emphasis on perspective matters because “The Testaments” doesn’t track Gilead through the gaze of an adult survivor trying to escape it. The sequel series follows a younger generation of women growing up inside the repressive theocracy. The show’s lead figure in this reframing is Chase Infiniti. playing a teenager who has never known any other reality.
So the visual shift isn’t just aesthetic—it’s built into the way the camera behaves. The work, Zozula said in describing that break from “red,” points toward a brighter surface, even as darkness continues to live underneath.
Zozula is not new to shaping narrative mood through images. Her previous credits include “The Half of It,” “Three Women,” and “American Sports Story.” On “The Testaments,” she shot six episodes of the season and helped establish the show’s visual language.
There’s a careful balancing act at play in the way “The Testaments” gets its look: it has to honor an Emmy-winning predecessor while still letting the sequel speak in its own visual voice. And in Zozula’s description. the method is clear—start with color. change the tone. and let the new protagonist’s reality lead what the audience sees.
Greta Zozula The Testaments The Handmaid's Tale Hulu cinematography IndieWire Craft Roundtable 2026 Gilead Chase Infiniti Agnes McKenzie visual language tone and color
So they got rid of the red? Like that’s basically the whole show right there.
I feel like changing the colors won’t change the fact it’s still Gilead and still depressing. Also “openness” sounds like marketing, sorry.
Wait is Chase Infiniti the one who escaped? Cuz I thought the whole point was Agnes or whatever trying to get out. The article says younger generation and then I’m lost lol.
Red being gone is kinda funny because The Handmaid’s Tale is literally red vibes. But if the camera is softer for Agnes McKenzie then maybe it’ll feel less like propaganda?? Not sure. I just hope they still show how evil it is underneath like they said.