As his first television project he produced, wrote, and directed, Rian Johnson’s (Looper, Knives Out) Poker Face is a murder mystery series that would show weekly mysteries the main character has to solve. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series revolves around a woman named Charlie Cale played by Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange is the New Black) who is gifted with an inherent sense of communication, deciphering someone’s truthfulness, and an intuitive sense of when someone lies. She is drawn by the strange mysteries surrounding crime and investigates them, leading her to unravel more than what she initially bargained for.
Fans and casual viewers alike are already raving about this new series. As of now, the show is rated on Rotten Tomatoes at 100% and on IMDb at 7.9/10. According to many viewers, this production is a scaled-up version of Glass Onion and there is heavy inspiration and callbacks to Colombo.
As shown in the trailer for the show, Charlie would go on many adventures while encountering many figures for her to decipher, as well as touring around in her signature Plymouth Barracuda. The unique arrangement of this episodic series will leave Lyonne interacting with new characters in new settings with different tones each time. Each episode will stretch the imagination on the crimes and mysteries she will have to uncover and solve while also being confronted by her many opponents. On an interview with Deadline, Lyonne goes on to say, “I want to see the people around me score very much, and it was so much fun getting to work with this many incredible people.”
This project was on the radar of many to garner massive attention as many companies were in a struggle to broadcast it on their services. Eventually Universal Pictures won the deal, and the show would be released on their streaming platform, Peacock under their premium service. The release includes 4 episodes on January 26th and the remaining 6 episodes will show each Thursday after.
Working with a terrific cast along with Lyonne include Ron Perlman (Quest of Fire, Hellboy), and Benjamin Bratt (Demolition Man, DMZ), as well as guest stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Looper, The Dark Knight Rises) and Adrien Brody (The Pianist, Midnight in Paris) among many more. As co-executive producer, Lyonne also helped build Charlie Cale as a humorous detective who does not play around, similarly to Lyonne’s other character on the show Russian Doll (2019). Rian Johnson’s crew is equally impressive with Steve Yedin returning from Looper (2012) as one of his cinematographers, Bob Ducsay as editor coming from Knives Out (2019), and Judy Rhee as a production designer and who worked on Better Call Saul (2015-2022).
In an interview with Deadline, Lyonne goes on to mention about the unique plot and what to expect, “…we might think that we know where things are headed, but it’s all about the details and the twists and turns of how we upend what we think we know.”
Through NBCUniversal Media, LLC, Peacock Premium is the only way to watch its original shows, and this one is no exception. However, if there is something audiences are looking forward to from Johnson, this as well as Knives Out will start rediscovering the genre that was investigative films with a twist.