The ever-expanding list of big stars to have thrown their hat into the ring with Netflix keeps on getting bigger, with Benedict Cumberbatch the latest world-renowned actor to take his talents to the streaming service with upcoming thriller Eric.
Of course, the two-time Academy Award nominee secured the breakthrough role of his career on the small screen when he headlined Sherlock almost a decade and a half ago, and he hasn’t forgotten his roots despite continuing to rise up the industry ladder.
His most recent foray into episodic storytelling came in five-episode limited series Patrick Melrose in 2018, which won strong notices and landed the leading man a Bafta Television Award for ‘Best Leading Actor’, as well as corresponding nominations from the Golden Globes and the Primetime Emmys. Based on the first trailer, Eric has the potential to reach similar levels of adulation.
Cumberbatch stars as Vincent in the 1980s-set story, with the puppeteer struggling to deal with the fallout from his nine-year-old son Edgar going missing. Having been increasingly alienated from those closest to him due to his unpredictable and volatile behaviour, Vincent grows convinced that the best way to be reunited with his son is with the assistance of the titular puppet, which stands at a hefty seven feet tall.
Young Edgar drew many pictures of the blue monster, which in turn convinces Vincent that if he can get the character onto TV in front of a wide audience, his son will see it and return. Suffice to say, Eric becomes an increasingly important part of Vincent’s decision-making process, with the show’s official synopsis describing the puppet as “a delusion of necessity.”
Creator, writer, and executive producer Abi Morgan describes Eric as “a deep dive into the 1980s Big Apple, grappling with rising crime rates, internal corruption, endemic racism, a forgotten underclass, and the AIDS epidemic, exposing the divisions rife between parents searching for their child, a detective battling with a system that is broken, and a lost boy who may never come home,” so there’s clearly going to be a lot for viewers to chew on.
Newcomer Ivan Morris Howe will star as Edgar, with the supporting cast also featuring Gaby Hoffmann, McKinley Belcher III, Roberta Colindrez, Jeff Hephner, Dan Fogler, Clarke Peters, David Denman, and more. Eric premieres in its entirety on Netflix on May 30th, 2024, and the trailer showcases the combination of atmosphere and ambition on display.
