Say things went sideways and you somehow ended up in prison, sentenced to 10 years. But authorities offer you freedom if you do just one thing for them. Transfer to a super-max facility for the criminally insane. Befriend a serial killer who may soon get out. And get him to confess more of his crimes.
Would you do it?
If the trailer for Apple TV+ psychological thriller series Black Bird is any indication, maybe don’t do it. That thing, promoting a true story brought to the screen by crime novelist Dennis Lehane, looks brutal — and potentially riveting.
Black Bird trailer shows Ray Liotta in one of his last roles
Apple dropped the trailer Wednesday for the brutally tense and suspenseful limited series, which debuts July 8 on Apple TV+. It’s one of the late Ray Liotta‘s last roles. He plays the father of a man sent to prison (Taron Egerton) and presented with the nightmarish choice described above.
Noted crime novelist Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, Shutter Island and other novels, serves as executive producer of the film, which he developed from a true story.
The series is adapted from the true crime memoir In With The Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and A Dangerous Bargain for Redemption by James Keene and Hillel Levin.
In addition to Egerton as Jimmy Keene and Liotta as “Big Jim” Keene, the ensemble cast includes Paul Walter Hauser as the accused serial killer, Larry Hall. Sepideh Moafi and Greg Kinnear also play roles in the series.
The six-episode series premieres with the first two episodes on Friday, July 8. Then new episodes come out each Friday through August 5.
Here’s a fuller description of the upcoming Apple TV+ psycho-drama
Inspired by actual events, when high school football hero and decorated policeman’s son Jimmy Keene (Egerton) is sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison, he is given the choice of a lifetime — enter a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Hauser), or stay where he is and serve his full sentence with no possibility of parole. Keene quickly realizes his only way out is to elicit a confession and find out where the bodies of several young girls are buried before Hall’s appeal goes through. But is this suspected killer telling the truth? Or is it just another tale from a serial liar? This dramatic and captivating story subverts the crime genre by enlisting the help of the very people put behind bars to solve its mysteries.
Watch the Black Bird trailer
Lehane developed, wrote and executive produced Black Bird. The first three episodes are directed by Academy Award nominee Michaël R. Roskam, who also serves as executive producer.
Along with others, Lehane, Egerton and Roskam executive produce alongside Richard Plepler through his Eden Productions. Jim McKay and Joe Chappelle direct, in addition to Roskam. The limited series is produced for Apple TV+ by Apple Studios.
Apple TV+ is available by subscription for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial.
