Sunny

“Sunny” is not only an engaging thriller, but one of the most intriguing series this year has to offer.

Jones is best known for comedic roles, but she’s a potent force of nature here. She makes Suzie’s anger, sadness, isolation, and cynicism tangible, and the portrayl pairs perfectly with Joanna Sotomura’s exuberant voice acting as Sunny.

Robbins deserves the credit for taking scripts that could have easily lost their way visually and finding the right designers, cinematographers, and editors to collaborate on what’s a truly complex vision. Most of all, “Sunny” is unpredictably weird in a way that’s rewarding instead of forced.

Rashida Jones gives a career-best performance in this strange yet moving series that pushes back against the algorithm by pulling us to and fro in surprising, unpredictable ways.

Sunny presents an interesting near-future scenario where a woman questions everything she knew about her marriage and life. The mystery she investigates may end up being mundane, but the performances of Jones and Sotomura — and the relatively brief episode run times — make it a fun ride to go on.

It sounds like a lot, but Sunny stays firmly in control of itself and never sprawls. I suspect it is intended to scratch the Severance itch while we wait for the new series; it probably will. But it is undoubtedly its own thing – and a very good one, too.

Ultimately, for all of its futuristic trappings, Sunny is most compelling when it swaps robots and AI for human emotions like grief and loneliness – and asks whether we can ever truly know another person.

I worry, therefore, given the goofy cliffhanger with which the first season concludes, that the show misunderstands its strengths. These do not include “realistic action sequences” or tight plotting. But I’ll devour that second season if it comes, because I desperately want more of the proud, tetchy, immersive, oddly relatable world it builds around Suzie and Noriko and Mixxy.

Just two episodes in, Sunny is both stylish and beautiful, with moments of true darkness. What Susie will uncover at Imatech remains to be seen, but the pieces are all in play for this to be a twisty and compelling drama full of humour and heart. Best and most fascinating of all are the questions that Sunny asks of AI and of us – questions that we, as a society, are still nowhere close to answering.

Overall, Sunny is a hugely captivating series from Apple TV and A24 which will keep you guessing throughout. Part sci-fi, part corporate mystery, part dark comedy and much more besides, this gripping watch has a big ‘ole beating heart at its centre – and it’s all the better for it.

You never quite know where “Sunny” is heading and that’s a good thing. The series leaves the door wide open for a Season 2 and I’d gladly walk through it.

Jones does heavy lifting in every episode and creates a richly layered character in Suzie, who readily admits she can be a real jerk but was clearly a loving mother and wife who isn’t sure if her husband was a wonderful man who made great sacrifices for her, or a total stranger she never really knew. As for that bot known as Sunny: what an amazing piece of acting by Joanna Sotomura.

Its strong ensemble cast, bolstered by Jones, Sotomura, and Nishijima, grounds us in this setting and helps elevate this techno-conspiracy. These core mysteries have a good build, and although its climax sputters out, it largely provides satisfying answers to its big questions.

Whether or not Sunny has enough story to stretch over multiple seasons remains to be seen, but this first one serves as a promising beginning and its unsure take on AI — depicted in turn as murderous, companionable, life-affirming, unreliable, and goofy — feels made for the times.

There’s a real edge to the show’s style and suggestions but often a hollowness where its beating heart — or even just the more reliable mechanics of plot and pacing — would be. But with buns this tasty you only half miss the burger. The most interesting, complex and original aspects of “Sunny” are its biggest ideas and its tiniest details, its questions about the relationship between technology and emotion and its sumptuous specifics such as the perfect garnish on a rococo cocktail.

The series, created by Katie Robbins, is much more successful when it concentrates on personal relationships — I’m including Sunny here, obviously — than on the mystery and conspiracy elements, which are no more compelling or even the point of the journey than a villain’s plans in your average Bond movie.

Though it doesn’t always hold together, its uniquely askew tone and charismatic AI title character ultimately make it a puzzle worth piecing together.

Seriously, if you want something pretty to look at, Sunny is the show for you. If you want a funny comedy or an engaging drama or a nail-biting mystery... well, Sunny is still the show for you. Just keep your expectations in check.

It is still far too long at ten episodes with a lot of digressions, inevitably about the Yakuza. But it is cleverly written and Rashida Jones as Suzie, the bereaved wife and mother searching for answers, is excellent in the lead role.

It’s a slick series, competently produced, but if you watch it you will find yourself wishing that it offered something more.

A timely, thoughtful, attractively made but frustratingly paced and plotted combination of dramedy and tech thriller.

“Sunny” conveys an immersive, eye-catching vision of the near future, even when the central storyline can’t quite deliver on its attempts at character-driven suspense.

It’s not a bad time, per se; a twisty mystery, a colorful ensemble and the occasional stylistic big swing keep its ten 30ish-minute episodes moving painlessly enough. It’s just a vaguely disappointing one, better at suggesting emotional and thematic depths than plumbing them.

Sunny is at various points a mystery, a psychological drama, yet another sci-fi tale of the dangers of creating artificial life, and a buddy comedy, where one of the buddies just happens to have a glowing screen for a face. Some of these modes are more exciting than others, but the overall vibe of the show, plus Rashida Jones’ lead performance, are interesting enough to compensate for the parts that don’t work. .... Sunny is an odd and dryly funny treat. [Jul/Aug 2024, p.127]

What’s most disappointing about Sunny is that it has all of the elements of a better show in its grasp: a strong cast (especially Nishijima as Masa), inspired look, and gripping premise. It even has an endearing robot primed to be the subject of fan art and animated GIFs. Yet the story just can’t sustain its bloated runtime, as the drip-feed pacing makes clear – and following around a massive pill for the majority of it doesn’t help.

The cross-cultural immersion-aversion seems genuine enough, though Suzie is a character balanced awkwardly between grief and the comedy that threatens to break out around her, but never quite does.

Some of it works, some of it doesn’t. It is a comedy, which doesn’t always mix well with the mystery aspects. But it’s Jones’ show. For much of the series she’s given only one note to play, really, but she plays it well.

Too bad that Sunny's uncertain tone and Jones' relentless dour performance keep the 10-episode series from building much suspenseful momentum, let alone genuine humor. [15 Jul - 4 Aug 2024, p.4]

Sometimes Suzie’s actions seem dictated by the script, and other times they’re simply unconvincing both on the page and as executed. By the end of what’s set up to be the first of multiple seasons, there’s not much to chew on, and only a bit more to feel. Sitting with Suzie’s grief adds up to too much mess and too little meaning.

Though Suzie is impulsive and impatient, Jones keeps her relatable as she inches her way toward humanity and even heroism. Nishijima (“Drive My Car”) is equally excellent as Masa. .... Every time the series leaves Suzie, Sunny, or Masa for the internecine bickering of the gang, it’ll make you yearn for the second season of “Severance” to watch instead of this.