The enigmatic teaser trailer Apple TV+ dropped Wednesday for psychological thriller series Disclaimer, from Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón and starring Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline, disclaims very little beyond a dark and foreboding mood and a warning to “be aware” of the assumptions that color our understanding of a story.
The seven-episode limited series debuts on Apple TV+ October 11.
UPDATE: After publishing the initial post, I realized a clever deep fake appears to be in play in the trailer’s narration, so I thought I’d better mention it (better late than never!) It only took seven days after posting about the trailer for me to realize I knew the narrator’s voice. And it seems she never said what she seemed to say in the trailer. See below.
Disclaimer trailer warns us to ‘be aware’ of what we bring to the story
The Disclaimer teaser trailer unfolds around the title of the limited series. As the camera pans across huge letters spelling out the word, we see glimpses of the show in between. Stars Blanchett and Kline show up in dark scenes and appear to walk into the ocean holding hands at the end. But their backs are turned to the camera, so it’s not clear it’s even them.
As the word “disclaimer” is spelled out, the narration tells us the following:
Be aware of narrative and form
Their power can bring us closer to the truth
But because of our own deeply held beliefs
and the judgments that we make
they can also be a weapon with a great power to manipulate
Ladies and gentlemen, be aware
And after listening to the narration, I realized (eventually) that the authoritative female voice belonged to CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour, host of the PBS show Amanpour & Co. So I went looking for the quote, and came up with nothing that matched it. What does that tell you? Be careful about believing what you hear, at the very least. Could be a deep fake, stitched together from different sources. Visuals can be suspect in that way, too. Expect a lot of deception in Disclaimer. Also: Expect it to be smart. But you knew that would be the case, given who’s in it and who brings us the show.
The show’s creator and director, Cuarón (Children of Men, Gravity, Roma), has won five Academy Awards, so we’ll gladly give him the benefit of the doubt on what might be a “gripping” series, as Apple TV+ describes it. The story steps from page to screen from Renée Knight’s bestselling novel of the same name. In addition to Blanchett and Kline, it also stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Lesley Manville, Louis Partridge, Leila George, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Hoyeon.
Here’s more description from Apple TV+:
Written and directed by five-time Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón, “Disclaimer” is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Renée Knight. Acclaimed journalist Catherine Ravenscroft (Blanchett) built her reputation revealing the misdeeds and transgressions of others. When she receives a novel from an unknown author, she is horrified to realize she is now the main character in a story that exposes her darkest secrets.
As Catherine races to uncover the writer’s true identity, she is forced to confront her past before it destroys her life and her relationships with her husband Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen) and their son Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee). The ensemble cast includes Lesley Manville, Louis Partridge, Leila George and Hoyeon, and features Indira Varma as the narrator.
Watch the Disclaimer trailer for new Apple TV+ limited series
Esperanto Filmoj and Anonymous Content produce Disclaimer. Cuarón, Gabriela Rodriguez, Blanchett, David Levine, the late Steve Golin, Academy Award winner Emmanuel Lubezki, Donald Sabourin and Carlos Morales also executive produce. Knights is a co-executive producer. Lubezki and Academy Award nominee Bruno Delbonnel serve as directors of photography. Multiple Academy and Grammy Award winner Finneas O’Connell composed the score.
Watch dramas and thillers on Apple TV+
Told in seven chapters, the limited series Disclaimer makes its Apple TV+ debut on Friday, October 11, with the first two episodes, followed by new episodes every Friday through November 15.
In the meantime, the streamer features plenty of other dramas and thrillers you can sample. The service is available by subscription for $9.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
After launching in November 2019, “Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 471 wins and 2,090 award nominations and counting,” the service said.
In addition to award-winning movies and TV shows (including breakout soccer comedy Ted Lasso), Apple TV+ offers documentaries, dramas, comedies, kids shows and more.
Source: Apple TV+
We first published this post August 7, 2024, and the republished it after suddenly realizing who seemed to narrate the trailer, on August 14, 2024.