Eric

Benedict Cumberbatch gives a magnificent performance as a jaded puppeteer searching for his missing son in gripping Netflix thriller Eric. In sharp contrast to his cheery muppet characters, Vincent is an alcoholic whose marriage is nearing its breaking point. Things quickly get worse when his nine-year-old son Edgar (Ivan Morris Howe) goes missing one morning while walking to school alone. When Vincent hears the news, he decides to bring his son’s idea for a puppet, a fuzzy seven-foot monster named Eric, to life, hoping that the child will see it on television and come home. However, Vincent begins to see the puppet (also voiced by Cumberbatch) as an apparition that promises to help him find his kid.

By the end of the first episode, Eric sets itself up to be an investigative mystery centred around Cumberbatch and a foul-mouthed puppet. It’s an enthralling premise that’s bristling with potential as it combines the search for the missing child with the protagonist’s declining mental health. As the six-part series goes on, though, these strong ideas become lost within an increasing muddle of plot threads.

Although the show is named after the massive eponymous puppet, it’s Cumberbatch who’s the main attraction. The actor keeps viewers wholly captivated by Vincent’s plight as his grip on reality spirals out of control, with Eric becoming a manifestation of his fears and self-loathing. Just as outstanding is Gaby Hoffman as Vincent’s wife Cassie, who consistently shines in every scene she’s in and delivers some of the show’s most hard-hitting moments. The series is just as much a portrait of a broken family as it is about a search for a missing child, which puts an interesting twist on familiar territory.

As the investigation progresses, more plot beats are thrown into the pot. Themes surrounding institutional racism are introduced with a subplot about a missing Black child. There’s also ongoing commentary about homelessness strewn throughout the script, shady goings-on at a nightclub and an extramarital affair, just to name a few. Rather than adding to the story by taking the investigation in unexpected new directions, Eric keeps introducing new ideas without doing anything with them.

While an overabundance of undercooked ideas stops Eric from reaching its full potential, it’s Cumberbatch and Hoffman’s mesmerising performances that make this series worth viewers’ attention.

Andrew Murray

Eric is released on Netflix on 30^th May 2024.

Watch the trailer for Eric here: