A gripping new miniseries has landed on Apple TV+. While subscribers of the streaming service have been blown away by season 2 of Severance, they continue to provide new content that manages to be quite impressive. Dope Thief is their thrilling new crime drama show starring Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura as Ray and Manny, two friends who pretend to be DEA agents and bust drug operations, only to seize the money and drugs for themselves. This show answers the question of what happens when one of their busts goes horribly wrong.
A fascinating premise with better execution, the first two episodes of Dope Thief are now streaming on Apple TV+. This has been an excellent show, particularly in how it handles its characters. Much like other exceptional TV series surrounding drugs, such as Breaking Bad, Narcos, and Ozark, this show gets off to a gripping start that promises even greater turns in the future. The premiere starts by showing Ray and Manny, and their chemistry is quickly established. Even though we don’t know their exact history, the way they interact with each other has years of history behind it, and the performances sell every bit of it.
They go into a house as DEA agents and take a bunch of money and drugs from people. But we quickly learn that they are not who they say they are, and from here, we are hooked. There’s a level of genius in what they do, but they’re also taking money and drugs from people who should not be messed with. The inciting incident is when Ray and Manny perform a drug bust on a large narcotics operation. The bust goes wrong, people end up dead and hospitalized, and they leave behind one key piece of evidence; one that may cost them their lives.
Ridley Scott directs the first episode. Yes, the Ridley Scott behind films like Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, and Thelma & Louise. He’s been one of the most legendary filmmakers working in Hollywood for decades, and he brings every bit of himself into that first episode. This is a rare venture into television directing, but he brings some phenomenal performances out of these actors. Brian Tyree Henry is one of the most reliable actors working in film and TV. From Atlanta to the Spider-Verse movies, he’s an actor I can never get tired of seeing, and he’s truly excellent in this show.
Dope Thief is what you get when you combine unprecedented talent behind the camera, on the screen, and of course, on the page. Peter Craig is a name that not many may recognize, but it was only upon further research when I saw how much astounding work he’s written over the past few years. He’s stacked up writing credits on The Batman, Top Gun: Maverick, The Town, Bad Boys for Life, and two of the Hunger Games movies. He creates this show and adeptly adapts Dennis Tafoya’s novel with compelling teleplays that spend a lot of time on the characters.
It’s a star vehicle for Henry, who plays Ray, a man who’s dealing with a lot. He’s trying to get money for the woman who raised him from childhood, and they have a deep emotional connection. Early on, we know that he lost someone in his youth, and he still misses her to this day. On top of all that, he had a rough childhood with his abusive father who struggled with addiction, portrayed by Ving Rhames in his best non-Mission: Impossible role of recent years. He’s also recently sober, but sticking to his sobriety is not easy, especially in the face of growing fear and instability in his world.
When the action kicks in, it’s quite intense. The shootouts don’t feel like glossy Hollywood action; they’re grounded and gritty. Neither Ray nor Manny are killers by trade, and they both have people close to them who they care about. They’re two people who find themselves in over their heads in a sticky situation that builds and builds. The walls close in quickly as they find themselves at the mercy of a man who we don’t see. He appears on the other ends of phones and walkie-talkies, and he’s out for blood. Despite not physically appearing in the first two episodes, he is a force to be reckoned with.
The cinematography is also a highlight. There’s a scene near the end of the second episode where it’s simply a moment at night where Ray stands outside a lawyer’s office. It’s a very brief scene, and yet, partially because of the nightmare of a day Ray has gone through, this moment is so beautiful. It’s a gorgeous-looking scene, and the show only continues to get better as Ray sits down inside the office and breaks down into tears. Henry’s performance is nothing short of magnificent. He can be funny throughout this show, but he’s usually under so much stress and to see his walls come crashing down, that sealed the first two episodes as an intense, emotional treat that may continue to get even better as more episodes come out over the next few weeks.
SCORE: 9/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 9 equates to “Excellent.” Entertainment that reaches this level is at the top of its type. The gold standard that every creator aims to reach.
Disclosure: ComingSoon received screeners for our Apple TV+ Dope Thief review.
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