When Netflix drops a Jason Bateman-led project, audiences pay attention. Add Jude Law into the mix, and you’ve got one of the most buzzed-about releases of the season. Black Rabbit, which premiered on the platform last week, is already drawing comparisons to Ozark, but this time, the chaos unfolds against the neon glow of New York City.
Brothers at the Edge
At the centre of Black Rabbit are two brothers whose lives couldn’t look more different on the surface. Jude Law’s Jake Friedken is a slick businessman and nightclub owner who seems to have everything together. Bateman’s Vince, meanwhile, is the scruffier, addiction-riddled older brother whose life is an ongoing mess.
When Vince returns to New York after a botched hustle upstate leaves him on the run, the story takes off. Old debts resurface, dangerous men come calling, and Jake is reluctantly pulled into the chaos. The show doesn’t waste time reminding us that no matter how polished Jake appears, his bond with Vince is both his strength and his undoing.
A Familiar Formula with a New Edge
If the premise feels familiar, it’s because we’ve seen Bateman in this territory before. His award-winning turn in Ozark showed us just how good he is at playing the reluctant everyman dragged into criminal dealings beyond his control.
But Black Rabbit isn’t a simple rehash. While Ozark was steeped in the small-town menace of Missouri, Black Rabbit thrives in the sprawling, cutthroat energy of New York. The show also leans into family history, layering flashbacks that make the brothers’ self-destruction feel inevitable rather than accidental.
Themes That Hit Close to Home
What makes the series compelling isn’t just the drug deals or gang threats—it’s the uncomfortable intimacy between the brothers. Addiction, loyalty, and the weight of family ties hang over every scene. The show asks the same question many South Africans might relate to in our own family dramas: how far would you go to protect a sibling, even when you know they’ll drag you down?
That tension is what keeps Black Rabbit from being just another crime thriller. It’s not about whether the Friedkens will implode—it’s about when.
The Performances That Seal the Deal
Bateman once again wears the director’s hat for part of the series, while also delivering one of his darkest on-screen performances yet. Jude Law, in turn, brings an unsettling charm to Jake, the kind of man who can close a million-dollar deal and crack under family pressure in the same breath.
The supporting cast—Cleopatra Coleman, Amaka Okafor, Sope Dirisu, Chris Goy, and Forrest Weber—round out the world with characters who add depth rather than distraction.
A Series That Demands Patience
At eight episodes, Black Rabbit is not built for binging in one breathless sitting. It’s a slow-burn, the kind of show that rewards viewers willing to sit with the discomfort. Tension builds like a pressure cooker, and by the final episode, it’s less about action-packed spectacle and more about watching lives collapse in slow motion.
It’s messy. It’s dark. And it’s impossible to look away.
Black Rabbit may echo the spirit of Ozark, but it has its own voice, one rooted in the contradictions of brotherhood and the inevitability of downfall. For fans of crime dramas that focus as much on psychology as on violence, this is Netflix’s must-watch of the season.
The question isn’t whether Black Rabbit is good television, it’s whether you’re brave enough to stay with it until the very end.
Source: IOL
Featured Image: X{@netflix}
