This article contains discussions of sexual assault.
Everything old becomes new again, and that’s certainly the case for “Cape Fear.” This story has been told and retold several times, actually, after it began its life as the 1957 novel “The Executioners” by John D. MacDonald. In 1962, J. Lee Thompson directed his own adaptation, which was the inspiration for legendary director Martin Scorsese’s take in 1991 … and now, there’s a 2026 Apple TV adaption.
Let’s look at Scorsese’s film to see what you can expect from the 2026 take on “Cape Fear,” if you haven’t checked out this Apple TV series yet. In the 1991 film, Robert De Niro’s deeply sadistic and psychopathic Maximilian “Max” Cady leaves prison after serving time for committing brutal sexual assault; after all his time behind bars, Max now knows how to exploit various legal loopholes and has learned about the legal process that put him there. Namely, he knows that the lawyer who helped put him away, Samuel “Sam” Bowden (Nick Nolte), omitted a report that could have given Max a lighter sentence, and Max wants revenge … so he starts with Sam’s wife Leigh (Jessica Lange) and daughter Dani (Juliette Lewis).
The Apple TV reboot casts Oscar winner Javier Bardem as Max Cady, Patrick Wilson as the renamed lawyer Tom Bowden, and Amy Adams as his also-renamed wife Anna, who also works as a lawyer this time. So what should you watch next if you’ve already watched every version of “Cape Fear,” including the Apple TV miniseries? Here are five picks that center on sadistic killers, cat-and-mouse chases, and former prisoners out for revenge.
Black Bird
Another Apple TV original, the limited series “Black Bird” — based on “In with the Devil: a Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption” by Jimmy Keene and Hillel Levin — centers around a depraved killer and a man trying to understand his psyche. After James “Jimmy” Keene (Taron Egerton) is arrested and incarcerated for various crimes including arms and drug dealing, he’s offered a very interesting deal. Approached by FBI agent Lauren McCauley (“The Pitt” standout Sepideh Moafi), Jimmy is told that if he’s moved to a different prison and successfully befriends suspected serial killer and rapist Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser) — getting Larry to confess to assaulting and killing 14 women in the process — he’ll be a free man again.
While this offer deeply frightens Jimmy at first, particularly because Larry is being held in a facility specifically for the criminally insane, he’s facing ten years in prison without parole, and he ends up accepting the mission. Across six episodes, Egerton and Hauser are absolutely magnetic, as is Moafi and the rest of the supporting cast — which includes Greg Kinnear and the late Ray Liotta, who passed away before the series aired, marking his final television appearance — and you won’t be able to look away from “Black Bird,” no matter how scary it gets.
Besides the fact that the title is impossible to find through a search engine, the Netflix series “You” is an absolute blast — and that’s thanks to Penn Badgley’s compelling central performance as the lovestruck serial killer Joe Goldberg. Based on a series of novels by Caroline Kepnes and crafted by by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, “You” introduces to Joe when, during the first season, he works at a used bookstore in New York City while trying to find the love of his life. He thinks he does when he meets Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail), a beautiful writer … but when he feels betrayed by her, Joe succumbs to his worst impulses, locks her in a cage he’s constructed in the bookshop’s basement that’s ostensibly meant to house fragile and rare books, and ultimately kills her.
“Joe falls in love, then kills the woman he professes to love” is something of a theme throughout the run of “You.” In the show’s second season, he seems to meet his match in Los Angeles — Victoria Pedretti’s hilariously named Love Quinn, who’s also extraordinarily violent and temperamental — but after they get married and have a son, Joe ends up in London living under a fake name and working as a professor. (We won’t spoil how that comes to pass.) By the time Joe’s story concludes in the fifth and final season of “You,” he’s back in New York and desperately trying to suppress his true nature once and for all … but doesn’t know that he’s being hunted by someone out for revenge. “You” is wildly silly and over the top at times, but it’s also an absolutely thrilling ride from start to finish.
Killing Eve
Sort of like “Cape Fear” with a seriously sapphic twist, the BBC America series “Killing Eve” — based on the novel series “Villanelle by Luke Jennings — introduces us to two passionate and powerful women, has them chase each other across Europe, and concludes their story in a passionate and violent blaze of glory. “Grey’s Anatomy” standout Sandra Oh starts as the titular Eve Polastri, who begins the series as an MI5 analyst who ends up working for the covert intelligence agency known as MI6 due to her obsession with a wily female serial killer. The killer in question, Villanelle (an absolutely astounding Jodie Comer), works as an assassin but also regularly kills for fun, making her an extraordinarily dangerous; still, as Eve’s fascination with Villanelle’s killing sprees grows, the two cross paths, and it’s absolutely undeniable that there’s a passionate park between them.
Comer and Oh are absolutely spectacular throughout this show’s four seasons, which watch as Eve and Villanelle take on separate missions — Eve’s are, of course, meant to adhere to the letter of the law, while Villanelle’s are firmly murder-based — and yet continue to orbit one another whenever possible. With luminaries like Emerald Fennell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Suzanne Heathcoate as showrunners throughout different seasons and a stellar supporting casts that includes Fiona Shaw, Harriet Walter, and Gemma Whelan, “Killing Eve” is a spectacular thriller anchored by two singularly talented actresses.
The Penguin
Even if you don’t think you “like” comic book movies or TV shows, you might like “The Penguin,” a gritty and thoroughly fun crime drama that’s technically a spin-off of the 2022 big-screen reboot of “The Batman” helmed by Matt Reeves. When this series begins, we’re reintroduced to a fully transformed Colin Farrell as the titular Penguin (reprising his role from Reeves’ film), whose real name is Oswald “Oz” Cobb, and watch as he struggles to maintain complete control of Gotham’s seedy underbelly. The best thing about “The Penguin,” though, is unquestionably Cristin Milioti. The “How I Met Your Mother” and “Black Mirror” standout stars alongside Farrell as Sofia Falcone, the daughter and heir apparent to the crime empire of boss Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong) who also happens to be locked up in Arkham Asylum for murder and general insanity.
After she serves her time, Sofia emerges from Arkham ready to raise hell … and the object of her ire is her family, who had her put behind bars in the first place. Throughout the action of “The Penguin,” which intersperses Oz’s story with Sofia’s reclamation of her own power, we watch as Oz tries to become a true kingpin and Sofia, in direct opposition, goes on a deliciously sadistic killing spree to take what she believes is her rightful place as the queen of Gotham’s criminal world. Milioti ultimately won an Emmy for her role (which was beyond well-deserved), and Farrell also scored a similarly deserving nomination; though Farrell told The Wrap in late 2025 that he didn’t think a second season was forthcoming, anything’s possible (as of this writing).
The Following
Unfortunately, serial killers sometimes spawn copycats — and that’s what the three-season Fox drama “The Following” centers upon. Created by “Scream” screenwriter Kevin Williamson, this series centers around retired FBI agent Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon), who, in the first season, is hunting serial killer Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) after the dangerous convict escapes from prison. Here’s the problem: in prison, Carroll was able to cultivate a cult of personality and gain followers, all of whom are also incredibly dangerous, and just to make things worse, Carroll has a particular grudge against Ryan. Carroll’s acolytes ultimately abduct Ryan’s son Joey Matthews (Kyle Catlett) in the first season, at which point you learn that Carroll once had a relationship with Claire Matthews (Natalie Zea), who then got romantically involved with Ryan.
“The Following” moves its story to a new killer, Connie Nielsen’s Lily Gray, in Season 2, but Ryan and Carroll always remain as each others’ nemeses, setting up an incredibly satisfying game of cat-and-mouse throughout the series. If you love a disturbing, twisted tale of a serial killer and the detective hunting said killer, “The Following” is pretty perfect for you. As for “Cape Fear,” it’s available to stream on Apple TV.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit theRape, Abuse & Incest National Network websiteor contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
