Cape Fear (2026)

Streaming on: Apple TV

Episodes viewed: 6 of 10

As soon as the familiar, ominous horns blare over the first scene, it’s clear that this new Cape Fear has no hang-ups about being a remake. The same Bernard Herrmann theme stalked the 1962 J. Lee Thompson original and 1991 Martin Scorsese version. Music is far from the only thing the show affectionately borrows, particularly from Scorsese’s take (he’s an executive producer here). It imitates respectfully and stylishly, with visual nods and reinterpretations of key scenes. What this Apple TV show does less surely is establish its own convincing identity.

In the earlier versions, Max Cady is a violent rapist who emerges from prison with a volcanic grudge against a lawyer he blames for his conviction. Here, there’s a tweak. Cady (Javier Bardem) has served 17 years for murdering his pregnant wife but is released when an ex-lover confesses to his crimes, then immediately kills herself. News of his freedom terrifies his former lawyer, Anna Bowden (Amy Adams), who is now married to Tom (Patrick Wilson), the prosecutor who put Cady away. The terror is intensified when Cady heads to the Bowdens’ neighbourhood and takes a keen interest in them and their two unhappy teenage children.

The movies were straightforward cat-and-mouse. This is a bit more cat-and-ball-of-string.

In the movies and the original novel, The Executioners, Cady is a guilty man set on vengeance. The tension builds as he gets closer to his stated goal of destroying the life of the lawyer he holds responsible. The show makes Cady more ambiguous. Is he fundamentally evil or was he broken by prison? Was he wrongly jailed or wrongly freed? As practised as Bardem is at being sinister, it reduces the character. To keep Cady interacting with the Bowdens, and string out the mystery, he has to be partially defanged, leading to some unconvincing plot-turns. Anna is forced to work with Cady, which she finds uncomfortable rather than unbearable. Tom has the odd drink with him. They circle each other cautiously and repetitively. The movies were straightforward cat-and-mouse. This is a bit more cat-and-ball-of-string.

It becomes a better watch as the series progresses, the Bowdens’ paranoia boiling over and the tone edging into campy thriller. Early episodes have moments of it, with overwrought Hitchcockian camerawork and some cheesy storytelling tricks — newspaper headlines and televised reports do some expository heavy-lifting — but they’re playful little smudges on a more prestige, serious surface. By Episode 6 (the first six of ten were made available for review) it gets looser, with some ludicrous revelations, all well-sold by the excellent cast. It’s silly, garish fun and actually more of a piece with the adaptations it’s following: another serving of well-made pulp.