Fernando Meirelles’ Sugar: A Neo-Noir Delight on Apple TV+
Fernando Meirelles' Sugar is a brilliant new neo-noir detective show on Apple TV+ that sets itself apart with its kinetic visual approach and unique storytelling style. Starring Colin Farrell as a suave private eye, Sugar combines classic genre elements with modern twists to create a captivating viewing experience.
The Stylish World of Sugar
Fernando Meirelles directs the hell out of Sugar, the brilliant new neo-noir detective show on Apple TV+. His kinetic visual approach immediately sets the eight-part series apart from its dime-a-dozen counterparts on network television. Starring Colin Farrell as a suave Los Angeles private eye hot on the trail of a missing girl, Sugar is both a loving homage to and a cheeky subversion of the classic genre. Its appeal is two-fold; Sugar invites you, the viewer, to participate in not only the central mystery, but also breadcrumbs you into developing a curiosity about its classy stylistic choices.
Chief among them is Meirelles and his co-conspirators’ — fellow director Adam Arkin, and series creator Mark Protosevich — flamboyant decision to splice in scenes from noir classics that echo the experiences of our protagonist, John Sugar. When he drives down Hollywood Boulevard, for instance, the show cuts to vintage footage of the location from some old movie. When he has a tense conversation with his love interest, played by Amy Ryan, the show inserts a quick shot of Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak from Vertigo. It’s a vibrant, melodic editing style that is practically unheard of in the streaming age, where uniformity is preferred over uniqueness.
The Enigmatic Sugar
Sugar himself is an enigma. He loves movies. They’re a bit of an obsession, he says. Often, it seems like he’s emulating his favourite gumshoes, giving his own tale a hard-boiled voiceover. His eyes light up when he’s presented with Glenn Ford’s pistol from The Big Heat. But we’re first introduced to him mid-assignment in Tokyo, Japan. He locates the missing daughter of a Yakuza, begrudgingly beats up the man who kidnapped her, accepts a large sum of money for his services and returns home to Los Angeles. He’s immediately hired by a legendary Hollywood film producer to locate his missing granddaughter, a young woman prone to going AWOL for long stretches of time.
This prologue serves a handful of purposes — the first and most obvious one is to familiarise the viewer with Meirelles distinct storytelling style, and then to convey basic but crucial information about Sugar as a person. He’s a no-nonsense guy with a curious relationship to violence; he speaks several languages, and is clearly very good at his job; but he’s also unmistakably human.
The Masterful Pilot
Episode one is a masterclass in pilot-direction. It’s gripping, inventive, and Farrell is fire in the central role. It’s a restrained performance, but he’s able to hit all the right notes — guilt, determination, vulnerability, sorrow, but most importantly, decency. It’s vital that we see Sugar as an inherently nice person — a white knight by way of Billy Wilder — and the show goes out of its way to stop us from wondering if he’s legit or not, or questioning his motivations. And that’s because it wants to divert our attention to the grand ‘reveal’ that it’s building towards. This reveal is separate from the plot resolution, whose success will depend on how well you’ve been vibing with the show thus far. A spoonful of sugar certainly does help the medicine go down, and the ‘twist’ might actually be a bit too bitter of a pill for some to swallow.
Sugar builds towards it methodically, not manically — the pace in the middle episodes slackens to a degree, even as the clues around who Sugar really is become more pronounced. Is he actually all alone? Does he really have no family? Who is the sister Jen that he keeps talking about? There must be more to his repeated denouncement of violence. The answers arrive at the end of episode six, by which time some people understandably have been thrown off. And even though the show doesn’t transform fundamentally after this big twist, everything that happens next is coloured by the new information; everything that has happened so far is re-contextualised.
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The Future of Sugar
As the chips begin to fall in place, wondrous new avenues also open up. The first season is perfectly packaged — a story with a carefully crafted beginning, middle, and end; one that feels complete, and completely satisfying. But there’s a sense that Sugar could transform into something else entirely in the future, as it digs into the more philosophical corners of its premise. What does it mean to be human; is ugliness — both moral and physical — necessary to survive? Strap in.
Sugar Creator – Mark Protosevich Cast – Colin Farrell, Amy Ryan, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Anna Gunn, Nate Corddry, Dennis Boutsikaris, James Cromwell Rating – 4.5/5
Hey, I'm Fateh Muhammad, a Lahore local with a passion for arts and politics. My journey led me through the halls of the National College of Arts, where I delved into the intricacies of both disciplines. Now calling Lahore home, I'm here to share my insights and perspectives on the dynamic intersection of art and politics. Let's embark on this enlightening journey together! Connect With Me .