Okay, so you’ve just binge-watched the latest Apple TV hit, Cape Fear, and now have no idea what to watch next? Here are a few shows that share some similarities with Cape Fear that you may be into – once you’ve had a chance to get over it all. Maybe it’s time for a nice cup of tea and a lie down first?
Whether you’re looking for a new TV recommendation, what to read next, or what to line-up next in your podcast queue, we’ve got you covered, with our new entertainment series, ‘So You’re a Fan Of’. We’ll be working our way through new or popular TV shows, movies, books/authors and podcasts and will then match-make you with other suggestions for you to try!
TW: Suicide, violence.
Not that keen on sleeping? In the mood to feel stressed out? Well heck, do I have the show for you.
Cape Fear is one of the most disturbing shows I have seen since…. perhaps ever. It’s dark, it’s gross, it’s unnerving, it’s brilliantly acted and shot, but it doesn’t make for having a great sleep. When our smoke alarm went off at 3am the night I watched the penultimate episode, as our house was being noisily pelted by hard sideways rain, it was Javier Bardem’s face that flashed in my mind. Was an unhinged killer also in my house?
If you know nothing about this show, it’s a psychological thriller 10-episode miniseries, based on the novel The Executioners by John D MacDonald. In the past the book has twice over been made into a terrifying movie – in 1962 directed by J Lee Thompson, starring Gregory Peck, and again, even more terrifyingly done in 1991 by Martin Scorcese starring Robert De Niro. A little side fact here – Juliette Lewis played Danielle Bowden in the film – one of her first big roles, and earned an Oscar nomination. And, she’s also in this remake – although I won’t spoil what her role is… she shows up late in the game!
This time around, the TV adaption has an insanely talented cast – Javier Bardem (the best of the best at being terrifying, no?), Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson (this is the best I’ve ever seen him act). Javier Bardem plays Max Cady who is suddenly released from prison, where he was serving a life sentence for murdering his wife and unborn baby. He’s released when his ex-girlfriend confesses that she was the one responsible – the last thing she does before taking her own life.
But this isn’t great news for Anna Bowden (Amy Adams), the lawyer who represented him 17 years earlier who is now married to Tom Bowden (Patrick Wilson), the very prosector who put him behind bars after Max agreed to a plea bargain. Anna and Tom have two children – one from Amy’s previous relationship (she was pregnant when the trial went down) and Amy now works as an attorney at the Savannah Justice League Project where she works with a small team to help free innocent people from jail.
Is Max back for revenge on the family? How far is he willing to go? And what really happened 17 years ago?
This show is full of twists and turns and if you’re into a dark psychological thriller, you’re going to be into it. It’s just… not for anyone with a weak stomach. I thought this show was really well done, but also, a bit too dark for me. There’s veeeery little let up from the darkness in this show – as it dredges up the past for all the characters involved, putting them all in uncomfortable positions having to face some pretty horrendous demons.
Okay, now, if you have watched it, let’s chat…
SPOILER ALERTS
Heck this show took some twists and turns – a few of the twists I felt were a little too obvious and too slow to come to the fore, but others were well done. I also found myself talking to the TV a few too many times – like, Anna, Tom, what are you doing? Where are your kids?!?! You know there is a psychopath trying to destroy your family, trying to turn you all against each other and you… just kind of don’t keep tabs on where your kids are during this time???
Likewise, the cops? Spoiler here for the last episode, but what? You turn up at the house to check if Max is there and then just leave again – knowing this madman is desperate to kill this family? You don’t want to maybe just leave a cop or two stationed in a car outside for an hour – even 15 mins? – until the family have found a safe place to go to? No?
I also found there were a lot of loose threads left at the end of this series. Was that the whole point? To leave us feeling unsettled too? I’m wondering if I somehow missed it, but what happened with Nevaeh’s mum, Faith? The horrendous murder, that Anna discovered and fled the scene from – but all seemed to look like it was setting her up. Was it just me, or did that never get mentioned again?! And what about Byron and Bunny French? The son who was wrongly convicted, represented by Anna, who supposedly killed himself and his mother right before he was due to turn up to speak at Anna’s big fundraiser. Were we meant to just draw the dots that Max killed them so that he could turn up an deliver an impromptu speech instead? Or was that a red-herring? Or… just not important enough to go back to?
There’s obviously so much work ahead for the Bowdens where this show leaves them – a heck of a lot of trauma to work through, but on top of that, will they be looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives? Finishing this show, I wasn’t sure whether they were just wanting to leave us with this knowing that the future wasn’t looking all that bright for the Bowdens – or, whether there’s some space being left there for a potential follow-up season.
Whatever the case, if you were a fan of this show, here are our recommendations for five other TV shows we think you’ll also like…
The Following
Cape Fear immediately reminded me of this 2013 crime thriller that got super dark, super quick. It stars FBI veteran Ryan Hardy – played by Kevin Bacon – who comes back into the force after a serial killer he helped capture, Joe Carrol (James Purefoy) escapes.
And, who might he have in his sights to enact revenge on? You got it. Similar to Max in Cape Fear, Joe has a real magnetism about him and has rallied a cult of personality around him – meaning he has plenty of fanatical followers who are just as eager to kill on his behalf.
If you found Cape Fear quite grotesque (swallowed toes, anyone?), this show really tests the limits of how far a TV show can go with gore.
Watch it on: HBO Max
Sharp Objects
This is one of the most disturbing books I’ve ever read – it’s by Gillian Flynn (she of Gone Girl fame) and it’s dark, even by her standards. The TV series is equally dark, but brilliantly acted. Like Cape Fear, there’s very little respite from the creepiness and darkness – plus it stars Amy Adams who is sensational in this (she was nominated for a Golden Globe).
Amy stars as a crime reporter Camille, who suffers from alcoholism and was recently discharged from a psychiatric hospital after years of self-harming. Back to work, she winds up back in her small hometown in Missouri to investigate the murders of two young girls. There, she finds herself back in touch with her estranged mother, step-father and half-sister and spending time in their Victorian mansion. It’s also where she finds herself confronting the past – the breakdown in her relationship with her mother really kicked off when Camille’s younger sister died from an illness.
From there… well, the story just gets darker and darker as the story progresses and more skeletons are revealed.
Watch it on: HBO Max
The Watcher
This was one show I had to watch only in daylight hours because it gave me the serious creeps. It’s a Ryan Murphy production about a couple who manage to buy their absolute dream home, and quickly move in with their two kids. But it’s not long before they start receiving letters signed by a stalker who goes by the name ‘The Watcher’. From there, the terror only increases. The Watcher is kind of like a version of Cape Fear where we watch the Bowdens be terrorised, without knowing who is behind it.
What REALLY creeped me out about this show is that it’s based off real life events – Maria and Derek Broaddus who bought a New Jersey home but before they even moved in, started receiving disturbing letters from The Watcher. The letters became so disturbing the couple put the house back up for sale six months later. It proved impossible to sell. Years later they were able to find a family keen to rent the home – who were soon terrorised by The Watcher. They never found the stalker’s identity, although there have been plenty of wild theories – especially after this series began!
The show itself is well executed with an incredible cast – Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Jennifer Coolidge and Mia Farrow.
Watch it on: Netflix
The Killing
This show came out in 2011 and clocked up four eerie and disturbing series. There’s nothing as in your face or dark as Cape Fear, but this show quietly simmers along taking plenty of twists and unnerving turns.
It stars Mireille Enos as Sarah Linden a homicide detective at the Seattle Police Department who is finishing up on the job – it’s her last day before moving to sunny Sonoma, California with her son and fiance, who has already flown out. But then, as she prepares to handover to her replacement Stephen Holder (played by Joel Kinnaman) when the body of a teenage girl is discovered. The case quickly becomes complex… the wider family, the boyfriend, the connections to the current mayoral campaign. And with Stephen coming in with an erratic, quite aggressive style, Sarah finds herself unable to leave, wanting to get to the bottom of the case.
This story really ramps up in the last half – the final two seasons where it has a lot more in common with Cape Fear, and the story seems to switch to a cat and mouse game. It’s bleak, intense, but very well done.
Watch it on: Netflix
Happy Valley
Yes, it may be called Happy Valley, but don’t be fooled, this show is about as bleak as it gets. It stars Sarah Lancashire – who is outstanding in this role and righly won all the awards on offer that year – as police officer Catherine Cawood. Catherine is one of the few cops in the small English town she lives in, where she’s trying to put the pieces of her life back together after her teenage daughter died by suicide in the wake of being sexually assaulted. The man who assaulted her is behind bars, but is paroled for a separate offense. It’s then that Catherine becomes obsessed with avenging her daughter. It’s an incredible, but intense watch. Highly recommend!
Watch it on: Netflix / SkyGO
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