The Handmaid's Tale is one of my all-time fave books and one of the only books that made the cut when I moved from Australia to the US. I read it every couple of years.
The Handmaid's Tale movie from the 90s is a pretty good version of the book and if you need to write a book report then that's what you should watch.
The series, on the other hand, takes the book and explodes the book into a whole universe. It is more broad. It's updated for current technology and social norms. The 1985 book and the 1990 movie don't feature smartphones or GPS for example. It's also far darker, partly because it seems like they're not just saying 'hey here was a cool book from back in the day, here's a series' but 'hey, remember that cool book from back in the day, well this shit is getting scarily close to happening, and let's just see how that might look, open your fucking eyes.'
TLDR watch the series but don't binge watch it unless you want to slit your wrists.
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