A new Czech television production is turning Prague’s underground into the setting for a psychological mystery. Production is now underway on the six-part miniseries The Disappearance of Sara Lindert (Zmizení Sáry Lindertové), a thriller that combines crime, supernatural elements, and psychological drama against the backdrop of the city’s metro system and hidden service tunnels.
Directed by producer and filmmaker Matěj Chlupáček, the series adapts the bestselling novel by Kateřina Šardická and is scheduled to premiere in spring 2027 on CANAL+ and linear television. The production brings together an established creative team with a cast spanning some of Czechia and Slovakia’s best-known performers alongside emerging young actors.
Prague’s underground becomes the center of a mystery
The story follows Sára, a psychology student who mysteriously disappears inside Prague’s metro network, leaving behind only unsettling security camera footage. As those closest to her search for answers, the investigation gradually unfolds into a story that blurs the boundaries between criminal investigation, psychological trauma, and possible supernatural forces.
Josefína Prachařová stars in the title role, while Julie Šoucová plays Sára’s twin sister Klaudie, who joins the search alongside her boyfriend Oliver, played by Tadeáš Moravec. Aňa Geislerová and Slovak actor Milan Ondrík portray the sisters’ parents, whose lives are upended by the disappearance. The cast also includes David Prachař and Denisa Barešová as an unconventional pair of investigators whose roles are intended to move beyond familiar police procedural conventions.
The adaptation was developed after screenwriter Miro Šifra introduced producer Maja Hamplová and Chlupáček to Šardická’s novel during production of their award-winning feature We Have Never Been Modern. Šifra co-wrote the screenplay with the novel’s author and screenwriter Marie Stará.
Ondrík said the project immediately stood out when he first read the scripts.
“When I read some scripts, I feel a certain sense of obligation,” he said in comments released by the production. “But in this case, after every episode I couldn’t wait to read the next one. The screenplay that Miro Šifra wrote based on Kateřina Šardická’s book is very well crafted. The mystery thriller genre is built around a theory that could actually work.”
While the disappearance itself drives the narrative, the creators say the series also explores questions of identity, trauma, and fractured family relationships. Chlupáček has described the project as his most ambitious work to date, saying he wanted to create a story that allows for two interpretations: whether the increasingly strange events experienced by the characters are genuinely supernatural or simply manifestations of psychological distress.
Real metro tunnels provide an unusual filming location
One of the production’s defining features is its extensive use of authentic Prague underground locations. Rather than relying primarily on constructed sets, filming is taking place inside the city’s operating metro system as well as its little-seen maintenance and service tunnels.
According to producer Hamplová, the filmmakers originally assumed they would need to recreate much of the underground environment in a studio before discovering they could shoot almost entirely in real locations beneath the city.
The series also draws visual inspiration from Prague neighborhoods including Vinohrady and Žižkov, with production designer Henrich Boráros shaping an environment intended to reflect the story’s shifting psychological perspective. Composer Simon Goff is creating an electronic score designed to blur the line between reality and subconscious perception through layered vocals and distant echoes.
The production is also employing high-end digital cinematography, with Chlupáček and cinematographer Alexander Šurkala shooting on the ARRI Alexa 65, a large-format camera system more commonly associated with major international productions. Hamplová said securing the camera proved difficult because it remains rarely used in Central Europe, while its technical requirements led the production to bring in additional equipment for nighttime scenes.
The Disappearance of Sara Lindert is being produced by Barletta, the Prague-based company founded by Chlupáček and Hamplová. The company has built a reputation for internationally oriented Czech productions including the miniseries Daughter of the Nation and Iveta, as well as We Have Never Been Modern and the animated feature Living Large.
The new series is a co-production with Czech Television and Slovak broadcaster JOJ, with additional creative partners from France, Poland, the Benelux countries, and elsewhere in Central Europe. It is expected to debut on CANAL+ in spring 2027, bringing one of Prague’s most recognizable public spaces—and its hidden underground world—to international audiences as the setting for a mystery that promises to leave viewers questioning what is real.
