Two longtime friends from Philly pose as DEA agents to rip off drug dealers, only to have their small-time grift unravel as they stumble onto the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern Seaboard. That description probably doesn’t scream “Apple TV+ series” to many of you, given that the iPhone maker’s streaming service has until now been the home of generally less gritty fare along the lines of Ted Lasso, Severance, and Slow Horses. Nevertheless, that’s the story awaiting viewers in Dope Thief — an HBO-style crime thriller headed to Apple’s streamer.
Apple released the first trailer today for Dope Thief, which comes from executive producers Ridley Scott and Peter Craig — a writer who co-wrote the screenplay for one of my all-time favorite feature film crime dramas, 2010’s The Town.
In the show, Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura star as longtime friends and delinquents who pretend to be DEA agents in order to rob stash houses. Dope Thief is based on the hardboiled 2009 crime novel of the same name by Dennis Tafoya. Both the book and the Apple TV+ adaptation bring to life the desperate, bloodstained underworld of low-level criminals trying to survive one more day. It’s a world of fake DEA raids, drug heists gone sideways, and broken men looking for redemption in all the wrong places.
Below are some key additional points to know about the eight-episode Apple drama.
Release date: March 14 (two episodes will debut on that date, followed by one every Friday thereafter)
Who’s in it: Brian Tyree Henry, Wagner Moura, Marin Ireland, Kate Mulgrew, Nesta Cooper, Amir Arison, Dustin Nguyen, and Ving Rhames
What’s it about: Two petty grifters who got their hands on some DEA windbreakers from a secondhand store rob drug dealers, running off with their money and their stash in what seems, at first, like the perfect sting. Eventually, though, it all catches up with them, and they hit the wrong mark. “You took our money and dope,” a bone-chilling voice on the other end of the phone tells them at one point. “Now, I have to kill everybody you know…”
Why it’s a risk: Up to this point, one could argue that Apple TV+ has played things relatively safe. While the streamer has delivered gripping thrillers (like Severance and Slow Horses), the brand skews toward polished, big-budget projects rather than the kind of dirty, street-level storytelling that could make Dope Thief a compelling crime drama.
As far as I’m concerned, though, hope springs eternal when it comes to Apple TV+. The participation of Scott, the creator having co-written The Town, is also reason enough for me to feel like Dope Thief could very well be Apple’s answer to Breaking Bad or True Detective.
