Apples Never Fall
Peacock | Release Date: March 14, 2024
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
15
Negative:
4

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Observer (UK)Barbara EllenSep 30, 2024
Season 1 Review: It all feels dated and stodgy (more claggy crumble than tangy apple) and there are so many Joy-heavy flashbacks you keep forgetting she’s missing. Read full review
60
The IndependentNick HiltonSep 23, 2024
Season 1 Review: It is an emerging portmanteau genre, designed to unite men and women, young and old, in something mildly exciting, mildly titillating and mildly relatable. The result is a show that lacks the crunch of a Pink Lady, but still has the mellow tones and summer flavourings of a Golden Delicious. Read full review
60
DeciderJoel KellerMar 14, 2024
Season 1 Review: The only thing that keeps Apples Never Fall from being yet another eye-rolling show about wealthy people being terrible is Annette Bening’s performance as a woman who is still looking for something, even in retirement. Read full review
60
The New York TimesMargaret LyonsMar 13, 2024
Season 1 Review: The seven-episode mini-series is so well-oiled and unsurprising, it just glides on by. .... And if “Apples” were just a domestic drama, that would probably be enough to sustain a story. But the show is also a missing-person mystery that is nowhere near as mysterious as it seems to think it is. Read full review
50
ABC NewsPeter TraversMar 15, 2024
Season 1 Review: The enduring talent and star shine of Annette Bening as the matriarch of a dysfunctional tennis family will keep you glued to this whodunit series, based on the bestseller by Liane Moriarty, even as the soapy script can’t resist the urge to do the trite thing. Read full review
50
USA TodayKelly LawlerMar 14, 2024
Season 1 Review: While the series starts strong and captures your interest for five of its seven episodes, by the finale all the exhilaration of domestic mystery collapses. It's more disappointing than angering – the miniseries had the potential to take your breath away. Instead, you may wander away before you finish. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneNina MetzMar 14, 2024
Season 1 Review: The show doesn’t have anything to say about these nuances of money and class that most assuredly would gnaw at strivers like Joy and Stan, which ends up dulling the story’s more potentially interesting edges. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterAngie HanMar 13, 2024
Season 1 Review: By the time Apples Never Fall reaches its (surprising, if underwhelming) conclusion after seven hour-long episodes, its insularity has rendered the entire clan curiously flat. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubMeredith Hobbs CoonsMar 13, 2024
Season 1 Review: Will it hit with the impact of its stars’ previous successes? Likely not. It has a bit less going on overall. But it paints an interesting enough family portrait to stare at for a while. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 13, 2024
Season 1 Review: To its credit, “Apples Never Fall” delivers answers in the final episode — but one of the biggest reveals makes absolutely zero sense and has us thinking that when it comes to being clueless, virtually all of the Delaneys rolled not very far from the tree. Read full review
40
The TelegraphJasper ReesSep 23, 2024
Season 1 Review: The problem with this flatlining thriller is there is absolutely no one to root for. Everyone turns out to have boilerplate relationship problems and monotonous daddy issues. Read full review
40
iIsobel LewisSep 23, 2024
Season 1 Review: There’s little that stands out to me about Apples Never Fall which, I suspect, is sort of the point. This is a programme designed to fill the space left by Big Little Lies and the copycats that followed. Apples Never Fall didn’t have to reinvent the crime drama to be watchable, but given its revered pedigree, I expected it to at least try. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneAlan SepinwallMar 13, 2024
Season 1 Review: There’s just not enough story here, and the show never figures out how to balance the idea that Joy could have been brutally murdered against various comic or soapy hijinks involving the kids. Read full review
40
Paste MagazineAnna GovertMar 13, 2024
Season 1 Review: More than anything, Apples Never Fall is just downright disappointing. With grand promises of f—ked up family secrets and over-the-top drama, Apples Never Fall fails to deliver on either front, resulting in a mystery thriller that barely heats to a simmer, let alone boils hot enough to justify its overlong binge. Read full review
40
ColliderTaylor GatesMar 13, 2024
Season 1 Review: Apples Never Fall manages to make Annette Bening’s disappearance a snoozefest with an unnecessarily large ensemble, a lack of focus, and no distinct vision. The series tries to be both a family drama and a chilling mystery, only to fail at both. Read full review
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