Apple TV Plus’ Sugar trailer sees Colin Farrell’s sharp-suited sleuth get more than he bargained for in trippy mystery thriller

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The first trailer for Sugar, a new Apple TV Plus mystery thriller, has been revealed – and Colin Farrell’s private detective might be in over his head with his latest case.

Set for release on Apple TV Plus on Friday, April 5, the streamer’s new crime-based drama looks poised to set itself apart from its peers with its genre-bending narrative. Indeed, Sugar might look like your typical sleuth-styled series but, based on its first teaser, it’ll be anything but that.

Apple claims that the Farrell-starring show will reinvent the private detective genre with a “contemporary” and “unique” take on the genre’s formula. While we’ll have to wait and see if that’s the *ahem* case, Sugar‘s trailer suggests it might pull off that ambitious plan. And hey, if nothing else, I’ll be watching it to see Farrell’s Sugar drive around L.A. with his handsome canine companion in tow.

Farrell (The Batman, The Banshees of Inisherin), who also executively produced the show, plays John Sugar, a hardboiled L.A-based private investigator who’s tasked with finding Olivia Siegel, the missing daughter of fictional Hollywood producer Jonathan Siegel. The more he digs into the case, however, the more Siegel family secrets he unearths – and learning about some of them might put him in serious danger.

Joining Farrell on Sugar’s cast list are a whole host of famous faces. Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Sandman), Amy Ryan (The Wire), James Cromwell (Succession), Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad), and Dennis Boutsikaris (Better Call Saul) are just some of the supporting actors attached to appear.

Mark Protosevich (Thor, Oldboy) is the series’ creator, and joins Farrell, Audrey Chon (Lift), and Simon Kinberg (X-Men) on the producing team.

Sweetening Apple TV Plus’ crime show lineup

Can Sugar help Apple TV Plus cement its place as a go-to streamer for crime-based stories? (Image credit: Apple TV Plus)

Sugar was one of four shows I picked out from Apple TV Plus’ exciting 2024 lineup earlier this year, so I was hoping its first footage wouldn’t make me look like a mug – and judging by its first teaser I’m confident that it’ll be a hit for one of the world’s best streaming services when it debuts in early April, in which case it’ll likely make its way onto our best Apple TV Plus shows list, too.

Apple, though, will be hoping for more than just another hit series, especially one firmly set in the crime genre. The tech giant’s dabblings in this TV show category have been mixed at best, with highly-rated offerings like the Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo-starring Criminal Record offset by poorly received series such as City on Fire.

After seemingly cornering the prestige sci-fi genre, Apple clearly wants to prove it can do likewise with other types of shows. Bolstering its back catalog with fantastic crime-based series is certainly worth a go, given how popular such genre fare is with viewers worldwide.

The problem it has, though, is that there are plenty of top-tier crime-based shows already available on its biggest streaming rivals, including Netflix (Mindhunter, Breaking Bad, and Peaky Blinders to name just three) and Max (True Detective, Mare of Easttown, The Sopranos). Apple is not only having to play catch-up; it’s also being forced to try and muscle in on territory on which its competitors already have a firm foothold.

Apple will need projects like Sugar, then, to hit the ground running and tempt would-be subscribers to check it out using a free Apple TV Plus trial – and if it’s a hit it’ll sweeten the deal for crime thriller fans thinking of signing up to the streamer. If, however, it proves divisive among critics pre-release and then flops post-launch, Apple may have to kiss its chances of breaking into the crime genre fold goodbye.

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