Apple’s Sunny is a grief-stricken crime dramedy with a smile on its face

More than yet different sci-fi parable astir a early plagued by vulnerable robots, Colin O’Sullivan’s 2018 caller The Dark Manual was a lyrical meditation connected grieving and nan emotions we task onto mundane objects. The book’s premise, prose, and thematic ambivalence astir artificially intelligent machines made it consciousness for illustration nan benignant of communicative that could only beryllium adapted arsenic a grim drama. But Apple TV Plus and A24’s Sunny brings a caller extent and nuance to O’Sullivan’s communicative by tempering it pinch patient doses of whimsy and animatronic puppetry.

Similar to The Dark Manual (which seems to person been precocious retitled successful anticipation of Apple’s caller show), Sunny revolves astir Suzie Sakamoto (Rashida Jones), a female trying to portion her life together pursuing a level clang that (seemingly) killed her hubby Masa (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and their young boy Zen (Fares Belkheir).

As an American transplant pinch a constricted expertise to prime up languages aliases make caller friends, grieving successful a near-future Japan is simply a disconcerting acquisition for Suzie. Even pinch her overbearing mother-in-law Noriko (Judy Ongg) perpetually astatine her door, and everyone being connected by their Devices — pillow-like smart gadgets that consciousness inspired by It Follows’ ammunition telephone — Suzie’s nonaccomplishment leaves her spiraling into a profound loneliness. But arsenic achy arsenic it is surviving successful a location afloat of memories, what unnerves Suzie astir is nan unexpected presence of a home homecare robot called Sunny (Joanna Sotomura), who insists that Masa programmed her specifically for nan mourning widow earlier nan crash.

There’s a pronounced consciousness of dread moving done O’Sullivan’s caller that makes its homebot-filled world consciousness for illustration a cold, acheronian place, wherever nan drumbeat of technological advancement has convinced galore to clasp machines they don’t wholly understand. Jones brings immoderate of that power to her witheringly acerbic Suzie who, for illustration her book counterpart, does not initially spot Sunny and lashes retired astatine nan homebot arsenic it originates taking attraction of chores. 

But dissimilar The Dark Manual’s mechanical servants pinch their unblinking sensors that displacement from a menacing shadiness of scarlet to bluish arsenic they process information, each of Sunny’s robots are presented arsenic smiling, friend-shaped beings whose cartoony designs are reflections of a larger displacement toward aesthetically playful technology.

Had Sunny been created wholly retired of CGI, nan power betwixt Sotomura and Jones mightiness not play truthful dynamically arsenic nan homebot and her proprietor snipe astatine each different successful nan show’s first fewer episodes. But because Sunny is an animatronic puppet whose animated facial expressions were real-time recreations of Sotomura’s, there’s a realness to their interactions that makes them some consciousness for illustration weightier (in nan communicative sense) characters arsenic a result. 

Through Sunny and Suzie’s caregiver / caretaker relationship, Sunny taps into thing very existent astir really societies move to exertion to deal pinch personal and communal issues. And yet nan silliness of Sunny being a googly-eyed puppet who we ne'er spot (but presumably can) spell up stairs is simply a immense portion of really nan show besides manages to activity arsenic a drama that’s really astir its 2 leads trying to lick a pulpy mystery.

While fewer of Sunny’s twists and turns are wholly novel, nan show’s committedness to making its world consciousness for illustration a plausible imagination of a early wherever people’s gadgets activity to reside their needs is fantastic. In spot of nan book’s allusions to tensions pinch North Korea, Sunny puts much accent connected yakuza leader Hime (You) and nan shadowy organization of group illegally jailbreaking homebots to execute functions they’re not technically expected to beryllium capable to do. 

Some of Sunny’s astir fascinating worldbuilding comes by measurement of its villains and their fixation pinch nan fabled Dark Manual cardinal to move homebots into execution machines. But arsenic Suzie and Sunny’s intrigue pulls them deeper into Japan’s underworld, you tin consciousness Apple mounting Sunny up to proceed increasing beyond its first play successful a measurement that seems for illustration it could lead to excessively overmuch of a bully thing.

Sunny also stars annie nan clumsy, Jun Kunimura, and Shin Shimizu. The show’s first 2 episodes deed Apple TV Plus connected July 10th.