• Network: Peacock
  • Series Premiere Date: Mar 14, 2024
Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 26
  2. Negative: 4 out of 26

Critic Reviews

  1. Reviewed by: Cristina Escobar
    Mar 13, 2024
    100
    What unfurls is Faulkernesque as we see Joy via her family’s flashbacks. She powers the plot but does so mostly in her absence as we see her from others’ points of view. .... Bening never lets Joy fade. She is powerful when she needs to be, vulnerable and pensive all at once.
  2. Reviewed by: Alison Herman
    Mar 14, 2024
    80
    “Apples Never Fall” captures the potential of a beach read you can binge. The scenic setting and propulsive pace are effective cues to turn off one’s brain, but the emotional foundation is solid enough for its central family to resonate as real people, however soapy their struggles may seem.
  3. Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    Mar 13, 2024
    80
    The miniseries isn’t one that deserves to be savored slowly, episode by episode, so much as watched swiftly and not taken too seriously. If the ending to the mystery is predictable, the getting there has enough value as a well-acted, dishy look at a family whose pit of secrets and lies seems bottomless.
  4. Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Mar 14, 2024
    75
    Apples Never Fall provides a healthy dollop of “Big Little Lies” energy, thanks in part to an excellent cast headed by Sam Neill and Annette Bening.
  5. Reviewed by: Bob Strauss
    Mar 13, 2024
    75
    The character studies of all involved are superior, yet it’s the older generation that really goes to town here.
  6. Reviewed by: Ben Travers
    Mar 13, 2024
    75
    Even if it looks the part, “Apples Never Fall” isn’t the next great prestige limited series. It’s highly likely you’ll forget about it a few days after you’re finished. But it’s an engaging, earnest, and fun trip to South Florida (which is only possible via television).
  7. Reviewed by: Cynthia Vinney
    Apr 1, 2024
    70
    Even if you buy the idea that all four kids are still so caught up in their parents' comings and goings, you may still wonder things like how old each of them is. We're never told that (outside of one of the kids), although we're told Joy's age ad nauseam. But between the way the story is arranged and the riveting performances by the talented ensemble, this series is still mostly a winner.