ABOVE AVERAGE

THE REAL MONSTERS AREN’T UNDER THE BED.

In 1980s New York, successful puppeteer Vincent Anderson (Benedict Cumberbatch) tries to find his missing son, while dealing with a miserable marriage, alcoholism, his misanthropy and a huge, hairy puppet called Eric.

What if Jim Henson was an asshole in need of redemption, seems to have been Abi Morgan’s idea when she started writing this dark, but ultimately moving miniseries about the many dangers facing children, at home and outside, in a dirty, corrupt city.

Vividly and imaginatively brought to life, with a particularly strong performance by Cumberbatch, but he leads an overall impressive cast; McKinley Belcher III is worth a look as a timid gay, Black cop.

2024-U.K. 532 min. Color. Created and written by Abi Morgan. Directed by Lucy Forbes. Cinematography: Benedict Spence. Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch (Vincent Anderson/Eric), Gaby Hoffmann (Cassie Anderson), McKinley Belcher III (Michael Ledroit), Roberta Colindrez, Jeff Hephner, Ivan Morris Howe.

Trivia: Originally shown in six episodes. Co-executive produced by Cumberbatch. 

Last word: “[Eric the puppet] was really in the hands of Lucy Forbes, the director who we had the initial conversations with around how he should look. He went through many iterations, and he was probably the most talked about character in the entire series, if I’m honest. […] The pupil design of the Eric Monster is actually based on Benedict Cumberbatch’s eyes. So it’s a photograph of that copy of his eye color. So there were lots of beautiful details that were really built and implemented by Lucy Forbes and Alex Holmes, the fantastic designer.” (Morgan, Yahoo)