Eric is now streaming on Netflix.
It is 1985, and the corruption of New York City’s public and political structures is stacked as high as the Fresh Kills Landfill Site on Staten Island. From screenwriter Abi Morgan, the highly polished, deeply emotional and cutting drama Eric follows TV puppeteer Vincent Anderson (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his wife, Cassie (Gaby Hoffmann), as their nine-year-old son, Edgar (Ivan Morris Howe), vanishes following a family argument.
Vincent is a sharp-tongued alcoholic and addict who has never faced up to the demons that stalk him, but he isn’t the only one. New York City is full of people hiding who they are from others, fearing reprisals, including missing persons detective Michael Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III), who has another missing person case that haunts his every waking hour while also secretly caring for his partner, who is dying of AIDS. Desperate to find Edgar, Vincent turns to his son’s imaginative drawings of a new monster puppet named Eric. He is determined to add him to his TV show “Good Day Sunshine” and is convinced that when Edgar sees him, he will come home. But in a city of lies and shame, everyone hides something as they attempt to bury their darkest truths.
Through the genuinely gripping performances of Cumberbatch, Hoffmann, Belcher, and a truly fantastic ensemble cast, Eric transcends the boundaries of its missing child premise to become a profound discussion on the very phrase that underlies Vincent’s TV puppet show, “Be Good, Be Brave, Be Kind, Be Different.”
From conversations on racism, homophobia, corruption and capitalism to themes of hyper-masculinity, sexuality, and control, this story of a desperate mother, a missing child, a fearful detective, a dad battling life-long addictions and a giant blue furry monster is a gritty and dark story of oppression, denial, and the psychological damage inflicted when people are afraid to be brave and be different. It is one of the most creative limited series of the year and deserves more than a nod of appreciation when awards season comes around.
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