On Netflix. Benedict Cumberbatch in the series “Eric”, a monster talent
The metro is filthy. And the streets are not much better, with a pile of trash that is rarely collected. Series Eric doesn’t paint the most flattering portrait of New York in the 1980s, but it’s the perfect setting for this thriller released on Netflix on May 30, underlines The Independent. “Vincent (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a puppeteer and creator of a children’s TV show, Good Day Sunshine. When her 9-year-old son Edgar (Ivan Morris Howe) disappears on the way to school, his life is turned upside down.”
Vincent’s wealthy marriage to Cassie (Gaby Hoffmann) was already hanging by a thread, and his relationship with his wealthy parents was already disastrous – all it took was for him to slip back into alcoholism. Until inventing the presence of Eric, “a large, filthy and above all imaginary puppet”, that he makes from Edgar’s drawings, and which “accompanies him on his descent into hell”, explains the British daily. To elucidate the kidnapping, Detective Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III) has a much better head on his shoulders.
Misanthropic critter
Ericcreated by British screenwriter Abi Morgan, has a touch of misanthropy, analyzes the TV critic of The Independent. “Much of the action takes place in the dark bowels of New York’s sewers, but the real cesspool is the establishment.” The mix of genres works even if the themes of police corruption and violence against children sometimes get lost a little, Nick Hilton still believes. But Eric worth the detour for the performance of its main actor.
Benedict Cumberbatch, 47 years old (and seen among others in the series Sherlock or the films Imitation Game And Doctor Strange), “has no equal when it comes to playing crazy”, remember The Independent. He is served by both dubbing the monster Eric and playing a man who has exhausted almost all the sympathy capital of those close to him.
“Sometimes, when the risk would be to do too much, Cumberbatch keeps Vincent on the verge of slipping.”
Finally, the newspaper concludes, “Eric has so much more to tell us about heartbreak, trauma and creativity when the huge blue monster is on screen. That is to say, this original idea is more interesting than the detective story. “You don’t drink a cocktail for its decoration, but the zest and the parasol are part of the pleasure.”
