So I finally got around to watching Black Bird on Apple TV+, and while I totally get why it was so hyped, I walked away with mixed feelings. Not bad feelings, just… complicated ones. It’s one of those shows where the performances are so strong that I wanted to be obsessed, but the overall experience didn’t quite sink its teeth into me.

Let’s talk about what really works: the acting. Everyone is phenomenal. Taron Egerton as Jimmy Keene? He delivers such a layered, restrained performance. You watch this cocky, smooth-talking guy slowly unravel in prison, and Egerton plays every shift with quiet intensity. But Paul Walter Hauser as Larry Hall? Wow. That’s the kind of performance that gets under your skin. He made me feel everything: disgust, pity, dread, and kept me second-guessing constantly. One minute you’re like, “Poor awkward dude,” and the next, you’re tense thinking, “Oh no, this man is terrifying.”

Ray Liotta also brings real weight and heartbreak as Jimmy’s father. Watching him in one of his final roles just added a whole other emotional layer to his performance.

That said, even with all this talent on screen, Black Bird didn’t fully pull me in the way I expected it to. I binged the whole thing in two days (maybe that’s the reason, but I usually do that when I’m hooked). I kept catching myself thinking more about how it was structured than just being lost in the story. Maybe it was the pacing. Maybe it was that, like Jimmy, I was too caught up trying to figure out Larry Hall. Is he a misunderstood outcast? A manipulative monster? A mix of both? That I stayed a little too in my head the whole time.

Also, the tension builds really slowly, which makes sense for the tone and subject matter, but I kept wishing the plot would grab me harder. The stakes are obviously massive (we’re talking potential serial killer with 18+ victims), but somehow the urgency didn’t always translate to the screen the way I’d hoped.

Still, I’d absolutely recommend it if you’re into true crime stories that focus more on psychology than spectacle. It’s haunting, and the performances alone are worth the watch, especially if you’re into character-driven slow burns. Just don’t expect nonstop thrills, but there are some thrills to be had with some of the beefcake on display. It’s more like a quiet, tense unraveling of two men who are both, in their own ways, trapped.

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