Paul McGuire Grimes, creator of Paul’s Trip to the Movies, gives us his take on two psychological thrillers out on AppleTV+.

DISCLAIMER (AppleTV+)

Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron is the incredible filmmaker behind movies like Roma, Gravity, and Children of Men. His latest project is the AppleTV+ limited series, Disclaimer, based on the novel of the same name by Renee Knight. At the center of the story is Cate Blanchett’s character, Catherine Ravenscroft, who is a world-renowned documentarian. She’s typically exposing harsh realities, and now she’s become the center of a scandal when she receives a book called “The Perfect Stranger” that seems to detail a dark secret affair from the past. The young man at the center of the affair passed away, so she thought it would never come to light. It’s only a matter of her time before the book starts making its rounds to her family and colleagues. The series also stars Sacha Baron Cohen as her husband, and Kevin Kline as the father of the young man who passed away.

-Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Kodi Smit-McPhee

-All seven episodes were written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron who made it seem like one long cinematic film. There are three narratives at play each giving a different perspective to this story.

-Each episode is told as chapters that flow seamlessly from one to the next. You’ll want to binge it but savor it so you can let it sink in and marinate within you. You’ll want to explore what’s all at play and where you believe the truth lies.

-Having three narratives allows all of the major characters to have their voices heard and allows them time to have messy, destructive responses to the secret affair. It’s a deeply layered story that keeps unfolding with every episode.

-Cate Blanchett is in top form as we watch Catherine’s unraveling, desperately trying to hang onto her job, her family, and the pristine life she’s built.

-Kevin Kline and Sacha Baron Cohen are both noteworthy for playing characters we don’t typically associate with them. Kline’s character starts acting in a frenzied madness seeking revenge. Cohen is terrific at heavy drama, as his characters tries to sort out his life and what’s best for their adult son.

–Disclaimer is one of the best series from AppleTV+ thanks how it plays with narratives, unreliable narrators, and an unexplainable past traumatic event.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS

BEFORE (AppleTV+)

Comedian Billy Crystal is turning in a complex performance in the new psychological thriller Before on AppleTV+ It’s a ten-episode series unlike anything we’ve seen from him before. He plays a child psychologist who has been morning the death of his wife, Lynn, after she passes away via suicide. Late one night, a young boy named Noah comes up to his door with blood all over his hands. He eventually runs away, but Eli encounters Noah again when he becomes Eli’s new patient. Noah has been in and out of the foster care system, and is currently living with his latest foster mom, Denise. Noah is shy and quiet at first but starts chanting in Dutch with no known connection to the language. Eli can’t explain what’s exactly happening to Noah, but he’s showing a connection to Eli’s past knowing specific details only known to Eli and his now deceased wife.

-Starring: Billy Crystal, Rosie Perez, Jacobi Jupe, Judith Light

-Ten episodes, each roughly 30 minutes. Usually, sitcoms and light-hearted fare is broken down into half hour episodes with dramatic storytelling running 45 minutes to an hour per episode. This series may have been better served to be five-one hour episodes instead of ten-half hour episodes.

-The series wants to explore a possible intersection of grief due to suicide and childhood trauma and unexplainable forces. When it sticks to authentic relatable emotion, it works well.

-The filmmakers are trying a little too hard at forcing the thrills and haunting atmosphere they want to give the series. They don’t seem to trust the material and characters to bring that out. Instead, they’re creating chilling moments with special effects and twists to drive the emotion.

-Billy Crystal is smart casting despite being relatively new to the genre. This isn’t a broad comedy, but he’s believable as a child psychologist who mourns the loss of his wife, played by Judith Light.

-The story is teasing that there’s some connection between Noah and Lynn, like maybe she’s speaking to Eli through him. It’s the kind of show that relies on multiple twists and will probably drop major bombshells in the final episode that will completely upend the truth leading up to it. I don’t know if I’m invested enough to care about what that may be.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS