The Spool / Reviews
Manhunt well worth the search on AppleTV+
The dramatic look at the pursuit of John Wilkes Booth is compelling, but truly succeeds by focusing on much more than just the assassination.
By: Tim Stevens
GenreCrime Drama History Mystery
NetworkApple TV+
Similar'Cause You're My Boy, A Dance to the Music of Time, A Discovery of Witches, A Gentleman in Moscow, A Menina Sem Qualidades, A Native of Beijing in New York, A Nearly Normal Family, A Respectable Trade, A River Runs Through It, A Touch of Frost, A Very English Scandal, About a Boy, Addicted Heroin, Advokát ex offo, Agatha Christie's Poirot Alexandr Dumas starší, Alif Allah Aur Insaan, American Gothic, American Horror Story, Americká tragédia, And Then There was One Yuriko, Anna Karenina, Annika, Arn: The Knight Templar, Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers, Babel, Backstrom, Band of Brothers, Be with You, Best Choice Ever, Black Raven, Blood Ties, Blossoms Shanghai, Bodies, Boy Swallows Universe, Brand New Cherry Flavor, Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?, Cold Courage, Dangerous Liaisons, Dark Winds, Dead Ringers, Deep Night, Devil in Ohio, Dexter Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves, East of Eden, Erased, Evergreen, Evlerden Biri, Fallen Fate/Apocrypha, Fearless, Finland Papa, From Scratch, Game of Thrones, Gossip Girl Harlan Coben's Shelter, He's Into Her, Hello Anne: Before Green Gables, Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway, Hilda Furacão I Know What You Did Last Summer, If Tomorrow Comes, In Cold Blood, Jack the Ripper, Jane Eyre, Jesus, Jewels, JFK: Reckless Youth, Kakuriyo -Bed & Breakfast for Spirits-, Kamenskaya, Kidnapped, Kiss Me First, Kita Yoshio's Tomorrow, La Chambre des dames, La Mante, La vida simplemente, Little Birds, Little Women Lives of the Saints, Love Between Fairy and Devil, Love in the Big City, Love Sea, M*A*S*H Magpie Murders, Martín Rivas, Mayfair Witches, Memorial de Maria Moura, Millennium, Million Dollar Babies, Miracle Workers, Miss Marple: A Murder Is Announced, Miss Marple: A Pocketful of Rye, Miss Marple: Nemesis, Miss Marple: The Body in the Library, Miss Marple: The Moving Finger, Moeder, waarom leven wij?, Monarch of the Glen, Monsieur Spade, More Tales of the City, Mother Is Wrong, My Hero Series, My Lovely Boxer, My Only 12%, My Ride, New Amsterdam, Nice Work, One Step Toward Freedom, Open Your Eyes, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Ordeal by Innocence, Os Maias, Our Secret, Pandora's Clock, Parizaad, Patria, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Perfect Love, Perry Mason, Place of Execution, Planet of the Apes Platform 7, PLUTO, Polisen i Strömstad, Portrét Doriana Graya, Pride and Prejudice Prima sezóna, Prípad jasnovidca Hanussena, Prom Pissawat, Rage of Angels, Ramon y Cajal, Rebus, Rencana Besar, Resurrection, Ridley, Rivals, Roswell Scrublands, Shangri-La, Sherlock Holmes Shining Girls, Sinking Spring, Soul Land, Soul Land 2: The Peerless Tang Clan, Spies of Warsaw, Stavy rachotí, Stranded, Strangers and Brothers, Super Pumped, Supreme God Emperor, Svadba bez nevesty, Sweet Magnolias, Sweetbitter, Tales from the Neverending Story Tales of the South Seas, Tamas, Tell Me Lies, The 100, The Agatha Christie Hour, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, The Bourne Identity, The Boy Next World, The Brothers Karamazov, The Buccaneers, The Cicada's Eighth Day, The Colour of Magic, The Count of Monte-Cristo: Great Revenge, The Echo, The End of Love, The Far Pavilions, The Flatshare, The Forest of Love: Deep Cut, The Girls on the Bus, The Ice House, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, The Journey of Chongzi, The Jungle, The Last Convertible, The Little Drummer Girl, The Long Night, The Lost World The Loyal Pin, The Lying Life of Adults, The Many Faces of Ito, The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, The Night Agent, The Old Man, The Passage, The Prey, The Rainbow, The Rector's Wife, The Red Sleeve, The Rhinemann Exchange, The Rotters' Club, The Shining The Sign, The Strain, The Sun Also Rises, The Sympathizer, The Tatami Time Machine Blues, The Wimbledon Poisoner, The Witness for the Prosecution, The Woods, Tientsin Mystic, To Kill a Cop, Tracker, Transformation, Trickster, Troubles, True Women, Twin Peaks, Under the Bridge, Unorthodox, Unsolved Mysteries, Viso d'angelo, War and Peace, Warera ga Paradise, We Are, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, When Heroes Fly, White Teeth, Wimarn Din, Witchcraft, World's End Harem, Wycliffe Yonder, You, Каменская - 3,
Watch afterAltered Carbon, Breaking Bad Chernobyl Dark, Fargo, Game of Thrones Halo MINDHUNTER, Money Heist Stranger Things
Studio3 Arts Entertainment, Apple Studios,
9.0
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Making Abraham Lincoln or Hamish Linklater the least interesting thing about your television series is no easy feat. That’s especially the case when it features Linklater playing the 16th President of the United States. Yet, somehow, the Monica Beletsky-created MANHUNT, adapted from the James L. Swanson tome of the same name, manages to do just that. And that is 100 percent a compliment.

Often forgotten is that Lincoln was not John Wilkes Booth (Anthony Boyle) and his co-conspirators’ only target. The schemers also marked Vice President Andrew Johnson (Glenn Morshower, an acting veteran turning in his best work.) and Secretary of State William Seward (Larry Pine) as targets. (The series additionally implies that the show’s lead, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies), may have been on that list, but that doesn’t appear in historical texts.) By opening on the far larger plot that almost immediately unraveled due to bungling and cold feet, MANHUNT quickly asserts its intentions. While catching Booth is the series’ splashiest element, it is certainly not all it has on its mind.

Manhunt (AppleTV+)
Tobias Menzies has hat, will travel. (AppleTV+)

If anything, the eponymous search provides the show a means of taking stock of America immediately after the Civil War. Ping-ponging around in time, Manhunt provides a glimpse of how a collection of Americans experienced life after General Lee’s surrender. The derailing of a far more extensive restructuring of America feels every bit as mourned here as the fallen President.

However, Manhunt isn’t some history lesson with recognizable faces. As animated by Boyle and Menzies, the series crackles. Boyle gives the assassin unfocused resentment that stems from both distaste for Lincoln and a hunger for more fame. His refusal to escape to Mexico captures this well. As both a great gag and a chilling indication of how shallow his goals are, Booth rejects it because people there don’t properly appreciate his acting. Menzies, by contrast, is deep and internal. He’s consumed by the guilt of not saving his friend and President and watching his hopes for America’s future get compromised into near non-existence. And yet, he holds the reins so tight only moments of emotion leak out.

Manhunt (AppleTV+)
Anthony Boyle depicts a Booth who can’t resist being the center of attention. (AppleTV+)

Between Boyle and Menzies stands an impressive collection of actors doing incredible work. The scripts pull solid, unshowy performances from several typically comedic types, including Patton Oswalt as Detective Lafayette Baker and Matt Walsh as Dr. Samuel Mudd. Other well-known character actors like Lili Taylor as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, Spencer Treat Clark as con-conspirator Lewis Powell, and Betty Gabriel as freewoman and sought-after dressmaker Elizabeth Keckley make their parts feel complete and well-rounded with limited screen time. 

The real standouts in the supporting cast tend to be less recognizable though. Far and away, the series MVP is Lovie Simone as Mary Simms, a woman technically in Mudd’s employ while still functionally forced to live very much like an enslaved person. 

Manhunt (AppleTV+)
Lovie Simone’s portrays Mary Simms, a key player in catching John Wilkes Booth. (AppleTV+)

From a visual standpoint, Manhunt benefits from strong directorial voices, including Carl Franklin and John Dahl. Both bring a sense of the cinematic, keeping the show from a blandness even the best streaming shows sometimes have. Additionally, they’re proven hands who excel at highlighting thematic elements without making them overbearing. There’s no shame in being a television director, especially these days, but it would be nice if both Dahl and Franklin got another chance at big-screen feature directing, something neither has done in over a decade.

At seven episodes, Manhunt moves without feeling frantic. It doesn’t overstay its welcome even as it widens its gaze beyond just the search of Booth. Strong visual language and great performances top to bottom ensure viewers will have plenty to take in as they likely learn, or are at least reminded, of how complex the tragedy of Lincoln’s assassination was beyond just his loss of life.

Manhunt mounts up and ride out on AppleTV+ this March 15.

GenreCrime Drama History Mystery
NetworkApple TV+
Similar'Cause You're My Boy, A Dance to the Music of Time, A Discovery of Witches, A Gentleman in Moscow, A Menina Sem Qualidades, A Native of Beijing in New York, A Nearly Normal Family, A Respectable Trade, A River Runs Through It, A Touch of Frost, A Very English Scandal, About a Boy, Addicted Heroin, Advokát ex offo, Agatha Christie's Poirot Alexandr Dumas starší, Alif Allah Aur Insaan, American Gothic, American Horror Story, Americká tragédia, And Then There was One Yuriko, Anna Karenina, Annika, Arn: The Knight Templar, Arthur Hailey's The Moneychangers, Babel, Backstrom, Band of Brothers, Be with You, Best Choice Ever, Black Raven, Blood Ties, Blossoms Shanghai, Bodies, Boy Swallows Universe, Brand New Cherry Flavor, Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?, Cold Courage, Dangerous Liaisons, Dark Winds, Dead Ringers, Deep Night, Devil in Ohio, Dexter Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves, East of Eden, Erased, Evergreen, Evlerden Biri, Fallen Fate/Apocrypha, Fearless, Finland Papa, From Scratch, Game of Thrones, Gossip Girl Harlan Coben's Shelter, He's Into Her, Hello Anne: Before Green Gables, Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway, Hilda Furacão I Know What You Did Last Summer, If Tomorrow Comes, In Cold Blood, Jack the Ripper, Jane Eyre, Jesus, Jewels, JFK: Reckless Youth, Kakuriyo -Bed & Breakfast for Spirits-, Kamenskaya, Kidnapped, Kiss Me First, Kita Yoshio's Tomorrow, La Chambre des dames, La Mante, La vida simplemente, Little Birds, Little Women Lives of the Saints, Love Between Fairy and Devil, Love in the Big City, Love Sea, M*A*S*H Magpie Murders, Martín Rivas, Mayfair Witches, Memorial de Maria Moura, Millennium, Million Dollar Babies, Miracle Workers, Miss Marple: A Murder Is Announced, Miss Marple: A Pocketful of Rye, Miss Marple: Nemesis, Miss Marple: The Body in the Library, Miss Marple: The Moving Finger, Moeder, waarom leven wij?, Monarch of the Glen, Monsieur Spade, More Tales of the City, Mother Is Wrong, My Hero Series, My Lovely Boxer, My Only 12%, My Ride, New Amsterdam, Nice Work, One Step Toward Freedom, Open Your Eyes, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Ordeal by Innocence, Os Maias, Our Secret, Pandora's Clock, Parizaad, Patria, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Perfect Love, Perry Mason, Place of Execution, Planet of the Apes Platform 7, PLUTO, Polisen i Strömstad, Portrét Doriana Graya, Pride and Prejudice Prima sezóna, Prípad jasnovidca Hanussena, Prom Pissawat, Rage of Angels, Ramon y Cajal, Rebus, Rencana Besar, Resurrection, Ridley, Rivals, Roswell Scrublands, Shangri-La, Sherlock Holmes Shining Girls, Sinking Spring, Soul Land, Soul Land 2: The Peerless Tang Clan, Spies of Warsaw, Stavy rachotí, Stranded, Strangers and Brothers, Super Pumped, Supreme God Emperor, Svadba bez nevesty, Sweet Magnolias, Sweetbitter, Tales from the Neverending Story Tales of the South Seas, Tamas, Tell Me Lies, The 100, The Agatha Christie Hour, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, The Bourne Identity, The Boy Next World, The Brothers Karamazov, The Buccaneers, The Cicada's Eighth Day, The Colour of Magic, The Count of Monte-Cristo: Great Revenge, The Echo, The End of Love, The Far Pavilions, The Flatshare, The Forest of Love: Deep Cut, The Girls on the Bus, The Ice House, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, The Journey of Chongzi, The Jungle, The Last Convertible, The Little Drummer Girl, The Long Night, The Lost World The Loyal Pin, The Lying Life of Adults, The Many Faces of Ito, The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, The Night Agent, The Old Man, The Passage, The Prey, The Rainbow, The Rector's Wife, The Red Sleeve, The Rhinemann Exchange, The Rotters' Club, The Shining The Sign, The Strain, The Sun Also Rises, The Sympathizer, The Tatami Time Machine Blues, The Wimbledon Poisoner, The Witness for the Prosecution, The Woods, Tientsin Mystic, To Kill a Cop, Tracker, Transformation, Trickster, Troubles, True Women, Twin Peaks, Under the Bridge, Unorthodox, Unsolved Mysteries, Viso d'angelo, War and Peace, Warera ga Paradise, We Are, What's Wrong with Secretary Kim, When Heroes Fly, White Teeth, Wimarn Din, Witchcraft, World's End Harem, Wycliffe Yonder, You, Каменская - 3,
Watch afterAltered Carbon, Breaking Bad Chernobyl Dark, Fargo, Game of Thrones Halo MINDHUNTER, Money Heist Stranger Things
Studio3 Arts Entertainment, Apple Studios,

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