Plots appear twice on Apple TV Plus: first as farce then as a tragedy-laden thriller. Four months ago the streaming service launched The Afterparty: an ensemble murder-mystery parody that centred on a group who find themselves implicated when a former classmate is killed after a school reunion. Arriving on the platform this week is a new bilingual eight-part series, which could share that same one-line synopsis if the word “parody” was removed and “school” replaced with “university”.
But while coincidences may exist in Apple’s production slate, they have no place in Now and Then. Here, one death is inextricably tied to another that took place 20 years earlier and involving the same circle of friends.
We begin Then. An opening scene takes us back to 2000 and a beach in Key Largo, Miami. Six Spanish-speaking Hispanic graduates are celebrating the end of their studies. One of them, Dani, records the whole evening on a camcorder, a detail that does more than just locate us in an analogue era.
She asks everyone where they see themselves in the future. A couple, Marcos and Sofia, are set on becoming a war-zone doctor and human rights lawyer respectively, while Ana dreams of the White House. Alejandro simply hopes they’ll be friends till the end, which, for him, is only a few hours away.
After he suddenly loses consciousness the gang drunkenly try to take him to hospital. A fatal car crash ensues and a cover-up is swiftly put together. Despite the efforts of tenacious rookie cop, Flora (Rosie Perez), the truth about what happened that night remains closely guarded by the five friends.
For two decades, at least. In the present, an anonymous text arrives on the eve of an alumni event telling the long-estranged group that they must attend or face their secret being leaked. They comply, but there’s little time for nostalgic reminiscences as another message soon arrives demanding $1mn from each of them. One will pay with their life, and Flora is back on the scene.
Although the premise might bring to mind a host of stories besides The Afterparty, the show at least boasts a strong cast — including Marina de Tavira (Oscar-nominated for Roma) and Y tu mamá también’s Maribel Verdú — and commendably tries to marry the intrigue with observations about how youthful idealism yields to a life defined by compromise and disappointment. It may not be groundbreaking, but this polished, racy thriller does manage to hit the spot, every now and then.
★★★☆☆
On Apple TV Plus from May 20