Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Great cast breathes dramatic life into underdone mystery.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Apples Never Fall
What's the Story?
As APPLES NEVER FALLS begins, Joy Delaney (Annette Bening) and husband Stan (Sam Neill) have just retired from their famous family business, a tennis school that has produced at least one Grand-Slam champion. It seems as if the Delaneys are the picture perfect family with four perfect children: oldest success story Troy (Jake Lacy), Brooke (Essie Randles), who has her own physical therapy business; mellow yoga enthusiast Logan (Conor Merigan-Turner), and Amy (Alison Brie), whom Joy calls the family's "searcher." Then Joy suddenly disappears, leaving her family looking for answers. Are they found in the mysterious Savannah (Georgia Flood), a woman who suddenly came into the Delaney's life just before everything started going sideways? Based on the book of the same name by Liane Moriarity.
Is It Any Good?
Fans of Big Little Lies and other dramas based on Liane Moriarty's novels may be expecting a tense mystery, but this show succeeds more as a character-driven drama. The secrets that are hinted at, and the mysteries that Apples Never Fall seems to be built upon, are pretty anti-climactic. Instead, viewers who enjoy this series will instead be tuning into the tortured relationships between the members of the Delaney family and enjoying getting to know them. Annette Bening's Joy is Apples' chief pleasure; we meet her mostly in flashbacks, and Bening renders her in vivid colors as a woman who feels passed over both by life and by her family.
Sam Neill's Stan is another of Apples' treats, a simmering mass of bitterness, competitiveness, and complicated love for his wife and children. Apples makes these characters' marriage feel real in all its ups and downs. Stan and Joy's relationships with their children feel real too: complex, sometimes happy, often not. It can be hard for individuals to stand out in an ensemble show but great actors like Alison Brie and Jake Lacy breathe life into each Delaney sibling. Apples Never Fall may disappoint those waiting for big reveals, but viewers who appreciate a meaty family drama will be enthralled.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the fact that books-turned-dramas from author Liane Moriarity tend to have a formula: Lots of wealthy white people with secrets and relationship problems. How closely does Apples Never Fall stay with that formula? Is it a good one?
Many dramatic plotlines revolve around characters who don't just talk to each other about what's wrong or what's going on in their lives. How would this dispel dramatic tension on Apples Never Fall? Would it ruin the whole show if characters just revealed themselves?
Many dramas are set within families. Why? What are the dramatic possibilities of this setup? Why do writers find complicated families a juicy setup?
TV Details
- Premiere date : March 14, 2024
- Cast : Annette Bening , Sam Neill , Jake Lacy
- Network : Peacock
- Genre : Drama
- TV rating :
- Last updated : March 19, 2024
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