HBO is the hit factory that every single one of the best streaming services out there wishes it could replicate, and few people would argue with that. With HBO Max gradually rolling out to more and more countries, it looks like it's going to become even more of a powerhouse as time goes on.
Its latest big show has been getting teasers dribbled out over time, but now we finally have a full trailer to enjoy, and it looks like a potentially affecting and stressful crime thriller. Mark Ruffulo will take on the lead role, at least on the side of the police investigating a spate of criminal activity, while Tom Pelphrey leads the flipside as the increasingly desperate ringleader of the gang doing said crime.
Sometimes the very best crime stories are the ones that give us an insight both into the criminal and the law enforcement chasing them – I'm thinking of one of my favourite movies, The Place Beyond the Pines, but there are countless other examples from the genre going back through the years. So, if HBO's team can summon up some of that synergy it's likely to make Task something of a special show.
It certainly looks moody and intense – the colour palette on show here is undeniably dark, with plenty of night-time exchanges and dank crime scenes to explore. That said, the trailer indicates that the show will build towards a violent crescendo by the time it's wrapping up. The latter stages of the video have plenty of gunfights and chases to give us glimpses of.
In fact, unless the trailer is being deliberately and carefully misleading, we might just get a look at a very, very late scene in the story as it ends. We see Ruffalo's character approaching someone and raising his weapon in a forest environment, before Pelphrey does the same back in his direction. If that's the climactic meeting of the two leads, it looks like it could be a super intense moment.
All of this confirms for me that I'll be watching for sure. Here in the UK the show will be on Sky Atlantic and Now (through an Entertainment pass) when it starts on 8 September, so I don't have to yet worry about the HBO Max rollout.
