Patrick Ryan

USA TODAY

Your holiday binge-watch schedule just got a little more crowded.

In an unusual strategy, Netflix has announced a new series, The OA, just four days before its Friday premiere. The eight-episode mystery thriller was co-created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, whose previous collaborations explored a modern-day cult (Sound of My Voice) and an underground anarchist group (The East).

The OA appears to mine similarly psychological terrain. Directed by Batmanglij, the show follows a missing blind woman, Prairie Johnson (Marling), who mysteriously returns home after seven years with her sight restored. Refusing to talk to the FBI or her parents, she instead shares her story with a group of teenagers and a high-school algebra teacher, all of whom she recruits for a larger mission.

Phyllis Smith (The Office), Emory Cohen (Brooklyn), Scott Wilson (The Walking Dead) and Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter) co-star in the Netflix original. Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Sarah Esberg of Plan B Entertainment are executive producers, along with Marling, Batmanglij and Anonymous Content’s Michael Sugar (True Detective).