Javier Bardem is smug, shirtless, and slow-clapping in Apple's full Cape Fear trailer

Bardem is having a hell of a lot of fun chewing the scenery, leering at people, and just generally terrorizing Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson in the show's first trailer.

Javier Bardem is smug, shirtless, and slow-clapping in Apple's full Cape Fear trailer

Apple TV rolled out the full trailer for its new thriller series Cape Fear this morning, confirming that, yep, Javier Bardem is pretty damn creepy in this streaming update to the classic story. Hell, his Max Cady even manages to pull off a genuinely scary slow clap moment, intimidating Amy Adams’ Ann Bowden as he emerges from prison (and some very convenient shadows) to get revenge on her and husband Patrick Wilson for the ways they did him wrong.

Building on the teaser released back in March, this trailer confirms that Bardem’s Cady is very much working from the template set by Robert De Niro in the 1991 version of this story, adopting an “I’m not touching you,” “Just asking questions” approach to stalking and terrorizing the Bowden family (including taking an untoward interest in the Bowdens’ teenage daughter, played by Lily Collias). With everybody asking the Bowdens what they did to Cady—the presumption being “Framed him for murder,” obviously—it remains to be seen whether the show will actually try to elicit any sympathy for the character, something that Bardem’s leering performance doesn’t seem especially interested in whipping up. But it’s certainly an evocative, even overwhelming presentation, as the editing captures the feeling of a family under siege from a relentless predator. (And his terrifying underwater cooler of tricks and/or corpses.)

The 10-episode series is showrun by Nick Antosca, who previously worked on shows like Chucky and Peacock’s A Friend Of The Family. It’s also being executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese; the latter, of course, directed De Niro and Nick Nolte in the 1991 version of the tale. The new limited series version will debut with two episodes on Apple TV on June 5, and then air through what we can only presume will be a totally chill, nobody gets murdered final episode on July 31.

 
Join the discussion...
Keep scrolling for more great stories.