This version, whose first two episodes are now streaming, with subsequent installments dropping on Fridays, does branch out in some timely and provocative new directions. But its excessive length—and specifically the amount of unnecessary explanation and repetition stuffed in to fill that runtime—kills much of the suspense. The mix of innovation and bloat yields a show that is both better than you might expect and disappointing in the same ways that most film-to-TV adaptations are. Where it does excel, so much so as to almost single-handedly warrant the project, is in its casting. No actor is more suited to remake Max Cady in his own image than Javier Bardem, a master of charm and menace. His presence elevates scripts that can be expository to the point of condescension, introducing ambiguity where it’s needed most.
Previous incarnations of Cape Fear proceeded from a simple premise: Released after serving many years in prison, Max, an unequivocally loathsome rapist, terrorizes the lawyer who put him there, that man’s wife, and their teenage daughter. Apple’s update adds complexity—some of it inspired, some superfluous—to the story’s moral landscape as well as its plot. Amy Adams plays Anna Bowden, a Savannah lawyer who advocates for the wrongly convicted. Seventeen years ago, she unsuccessfully defended Max against charges that he killed his pregnant wife. While he suffered in prison, she married the case’s prosecutor, Tom Bowden (Patrick Wilson), despite having been pregnant with another partner’s child during the trial. Out of that mess grew a perfect-looking life. As Anna redeemed herself through tireless work for a nonprofit in the vein of the Innocence Project, Tom left the public sector and made a fortune defending wealthy clients. He has raised Anna’s well-behaved daughter, Natalie (Lily Collias from Roofman, excellent), as his own, alongside the couple’s biological teenage son, Zack (Joe Anders).