The American criminal justice system is a scary place. Not only for those in the dock facing the consequences of their actions or aiming for absolution, but for those on the benches in front of them, too. Presumed Innocent, a new eight-part thriller from AppleTV+, is a story of role reversal, where those who usually handle the interrogation find their own lives suddenly under the microscope.
Jake Gyllenhaal is Rusty Sabich, a fierce prosecutor working in the criminal courts of Chicago. His career is augmented by a seemingly idyllic homelife with his wife, Barbara (Ruth Negga), and their two telegenic children. All of this evaporates with a single phone call informing Rusty that his colleague Carolyn (Renate Reinsve) has been found brutally murdered. As Rusty gets to work on the state’s case, certain details start to emerge. Not only were Rusty and Carolyn sexually involved but she was pregnant with his child. “I will fight to save what we have,” Barbara tells her husband. “But you need to stop loving her.” That struggle becomes increasingly hard as, slowly but surely, Rusty’s former colleagues turn on him, and he becomes the prime suspect in the case.
