By Variety | Created at 2026-06-03 13:24:08 | Updated at 2026-06-08 23:02:05
5 days ago
John D. MacDonald’s novel “The Executioners” has been adapted for film twice as “Cape Fear”: first in 1962, starring Robert Mitchum, and again in 1991, starring Robert De Niro and directed by Martin Scorsese. The latest adaptation, an Apple TV series created by Nick Antosca, is perhaps the most unnerving and intense retelling yet. A portrait of a family undone and a wronged man determined to seek vengeance, “Cape Fear” explores betrayal, retribution and what it really means to demand an eye for an eye.
The 10-episode limited series (critics received eight for review) opens on July 4 in modern-day Savannah, Georgia. Anna (Amy Adams), an attorney for the wrongly accused at the Savannah Justice League Project, her criminal defense attorney husband, Tom (Patrick Wilson), and their teenage children, Natalie (Lily Collias) and Zack (Joe Anders), are barbecuing by the pool with friends. Out of nowhere, a storm rolls in, altering the Bowden family’s plans. Elsewhere, a weeping woman surrounded by newspaper clippings of convicted murderer Max Cady (a mesmerizing Javier Bardem) writes a note before shooting herself dead. Sometime later, a man with an eyeball tattooed on the back of his neck emerges from the gates of Tarwater State Prison. After 17 years behind bars, convicted for murdering his pregnant wife, Max is exonerated after someone else confesses to the crime.
Though she has spent much of her career working to free innocent people from prison, Anna is horrified when she learns about Max’s release. Her feelings are further complicated when her partner at SJLP, Noa (CCH Pounder), suggests they reach out to Max to become a talking head for the organization. Max is boisterous and bold, and his sex appeal and charisma draw everyone, including the media, the Bowden kiddos and a slew of admirers toward him. Yet a sinister rage brews within the former chef, flickering alive with the smallest spark. Initially, it’s a deep-seated fury that only Anna seems to glimpse.
Max entering their orbit isn’t the only thing stressing the Bowdens. Still reeling from a situation involving an ex-girlfriend, Zack’s behavior is increasingly erratic. Moreover, their massive Georgian house remains under construction, and ongoing issues with the air conditioner and alarm system create an uneasy living situation. On top of the discomfort of Max’s cozying up to them in public, Anna and Tom quickly realize that not even their home is a refuge.
As gripping as “Cape Fear” is, there are some stylistic oddities that don’t make sense yet, but may click as the series comes to its conclusion. The use of color is intriguing. In flashbacks to Max’s time in Tarwater, Antosca uses black-and-white imagery that denotes not just a past time but a specific place. Yet color filters used to signal a warp in reality or an escalation in Max’s behavior feel too on the nose. Because the storyline itself is so compelling, there is no need for additional signifiers to unpack Max’s psyche or to push the narrative forward.
The final two episodes of “Cape Fear” remain in the vault, but already, it’s clear Max isn’t simply a monster assailing innocents. The truth is far more intricate. Society deems people good or heroic based on how they present themselves to the world. However, privilege, wealth and race go a long way toward sanitizing someone’s image. For those who have lost everything so others can appear unsullied, the only recourse may be getting what they’re owed in blood.
The first two episodes of “Cape Fear” debut June 5 on Apple TV, with the remaining episodes airing weekly on Fridays.
