In this small-town Louisiana tale, Timberlake plays Eddie Palmer, a former high-school football star whose promising college career was derailed by an incident which led to his incarceration. Twelve years on and he’s returning to Sylvain to live with his grandmother Vivian (June Squibb). While he struggles to find work, she frets about both him and the little boy Sam (Ryder Allen) who lives in the caravan next door with his feckless drug-addled mother. “That woman is nothing but trouble,” Vivian warns, just hours before Eddie spends the night with her.
Apple TV
Justin Timberlake plays ex-con Eddie Palmer in Apple TV+’s latest movie.
Palmer: Why Apple s unstated drama might just be Justin Timberlake s finest yet stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
This image released by Apple shows Ryder Allen, foreground, and Justin Timberlake in a scene from Palmer. (Apple via AP)
There’s a kitchen-sink full of Serious Drama Cliches in the new Justin Timberlake film Palmer, about a high school football star turned convict who must help the young gender fluid boy with the addict mom next door while also trying to regain his footing in his small Louisiana hometown. It’d be an insult to real Oscar-bait to even call this Oscar-bait. And yet, compelling performances make Palmer watchable and fairly affecting despite the fact that we’ve seen this kind of thing so many times before.