Author Behind Netflix's Best Psychological Thriller Sets Directorial Debut

Published Aug 24, 2026, 3:10 PM EDT Nick Bythrow is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant. He has been writing for the site since September 2022. He graduated from Hampshire College in 2022, where he triple majored in Journalism, Communications, and Media Studies. When he's not writing about TV and movies for ScreenRant and his blog, Frayed Branches, Nick is penning speculative fiction and poetry on Amazon. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts. A prominent author is about to make a major behind-the-scenes debut. The author behind Netflix's best psychological thriller series has set their directorial debut as new details about their first project arrive. Netflix has a number of psychological thriller TV shows that have become prominent in recent years. This includes everything from supernatural horrors, like The Haunting of Hill House, to more grounded, crime-focused stories, such as Mindhunter. Numerous other installments, like the miniseries Behind Her Eyes, also made a mark on the platform thanks to critical success. But there's one based on a book series that's about to step back into the spotlight in a new, important way. According to Variety, Caroline Kepnes, the author of the You book series, is set to write and direct the psychological thriller The Attentionist. The series will be her directorial debut, adapting her 2022 short story of the same name. The eight-episode, short-form series takes place during the 1990s in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, following a 14-year-old girl, Maeve, and her older sister, becoming privy to a secret romance involving a boy over the phone. However, things take a turn when he reveals a dark truth that sends Maeve's family spiraling. The short-form series will be released on YouTube, part of a larger initiative by a media company that will be revealed more readily in the near future. The Attentionist is produced by Mark Roberts and Lorena David, with shooting set to happen on Cape Cod. A search for lead actors is currently underway. In statements released by Kepnes, the You book series author explained the "emotional creepy horror" the series will hinge upon, while also emphasizing the importance of filming the story on location at Cape Cod. Check out what Kepnes had to say below: Sometimes it feels like a lakeside slasher, and sometimes it feels like a boy-meets-girl oceanside summer romance. I wrote ‘The Attentionist’ as a mashup of genres and being at the helm of the adaptation is quite literally a dream come true. I wanted to combine my love of emotional creepy horror with my affection for small town family drama, and set it in the veiled, insular world of the Cape where I grew up. During our first scouting trip on the Cape for ‘The Attentionist,’ I found out ‘You’ made the New York Times best thrillers list while at one of my favorite local haunts with the production team. It feels like my mom is looking down on all of it and smiling, my dad too. And this is one of those sick short stories that really disturbed her, so I hope they have YouTube in heaven. You ended on Netflix in 2025, featuring an original story that diverted from the novels while still keeping the same premise of its protagonist, Joe Goldberg, stalking multiple women due to his obsessive lens on romance. The main series of novel by Kepnes ended in 2023, while You First: A Joe Goldberg Prequel, was released in June 2026. The Attentionist will be her first work following the end of the You books, and her first major directorial project ever. But it appears she intends to stick to the original vision of the story the series will be pulling from. It's not Kepnes' first time writing for TV, either. While she wrote You season 1, episode 8, she also served as a staff writer on 7th Heaven from 2006 to 2007, and on The Secret Life of the American Teenager from 2008 to 2009. Her work also includes the standalone books Stephen Crane and Providence, showcasing how well she can write suspenseful, thrilling stories outside the universe of You. This will be her next foray, providing a tale that falls into the series' core categories while being entirely new. More information about The Attentionist will likely be revealed in the coming days, as the media venture it's part of gets a broader explanation. For now, it seems the series will be a unique entry into the world of Kepnes' psychological thriller works, building off her writing on You to make something completely new. With the Netflix series now over, this makes for a new era for the author and what her work will entail going forward.