Apple TV+ show ‘Servant.’ Image source: Apple
Director M. Night Shyamalan and writer/creator Tony Basgallop have defeated a lawsuit alleging that their “Servant” series on Apple TV+ stole ideas from a previous film.
The lawsuit was brought by filmmaker Francesca Gregorini in January 2020, although the case was initially dismissed. On appeal, it was allowed to proceed with its accusation that “Servant” stole the plot and aped certain creative choices in the 2013 movie “The Truth About Emanuel.”
Following a seven-day trial by jury, however, The Independent reports that the federal judge overseeing the case has ruled in favor of “Servant.” The jury had been shown the film plus the first three episodes of the series at the start of the trial.
None of the “Servant” team have yet commented on the ruling, but in court, Shyamalan said the whole thing was “clearly, 100%, a misunderstanding.”
“This accusation is the exact opposite of everything I do and everything I try to represent,” Shyamalan is reported to have continued. “I would have never allowed it. None of the people that I work with would ever do anything like that.”
When the trial began, Shyamalan’s attorney Brittany Amadi told the court that “Ms. Gregorini is seeking a windfall here.”
“She’s seeking $81 million for work she didn’t do,” continued Amadi. “The truth is the creators of ‘Servant’ do not owe anything to Ms Gregorini.”
Amadi also pointed out that “Servant” is a supernatural thriller while “The Truth About Emanuel,” is a coming-of-age drama. Gregorini claimed that specific “Servant” scenes of a character treating a doll as a real baby, and then fainting, was lifted from her movie.
Shyamalan testified that the fainting scene was not sufficiently original to be subject to copyright. “We’ve all seen it hundreds and hundreds of times,” he said. “Hitchcock has done it in ‘Rebecca,’ ‘Notorious,’ maybe ‘Saboteur.’ It’s just a thing no one owns.”
It’s not clear whether Gregorini again has an option to appeal the decision.
“Servant” vs “The Truth About Emanuel”
Viewing “Servant,” reading through plot details of “The Truth About Emanuel,” and examining the initial evidence with side-by-side scenes, make it clear that the accusations of copying are a stretch.
Image source: Case 2:20-cv-00406-DMG-JC Document 1
The two share a few similarities, but really only that there is a reborn doll, a nanny, and a traumatized mother in each story. The movie “The Truth About Emanuel” centers around a woman named Emanuel that babysits for a woman named Linda, and quickly discovers there isn’t a baby, but instead a reborn doll.
Emanuel spends the film trying to keep the reborn doll a secret. She forms a close relationship with Linda, then later when the doll is discovered by someone Linda is courting, Linda snaps out of it and thinks Emanuel swapped the real baby for a doll.
In the end, Linda is put in a psychiatric hospital. It’s a kind of tragic drama about Emanuel coming to terms with her own mother’s death.
Image source: Case 2:20-cv-00406-DMG-JC Document 1
“Servant,” on the other hand, is not. Spoilers for the first three episodes follow.
After a tragic loss of their child, a reborn doll is given to Dorothy to help her grieve, but she believes it is real. As she is about to return to work as a news anchor, she hires a babysitter, Leanne, who treats the reborn doll as a real baby at all times.
In episode two, the reborn doll is now a living, breathing baby. The show suggests it might be a supernatural occurrence, but the central plot is about where this living baby came from, who Leanne really is, and whether Dorothy will ever realize what really happened to her baby.
Image source: Case 2:20-cv-00406-DMG-JC Document 1
It seems that it is a total coincidence that “Servant” just happens to include vaguely similar shots. Even the evidence provided by Gregorini is a stretch, like the underwater scene in “Emanuel” is a dream sequence where the house fills with water, while Leanne in the tub is just her lying in shallow water.
“Servant” completed its run on Apple TV+ in March 2023. All four seasons are available for streaming.
