| Suspicion | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Rob Williams |
| Based on | False Flag by Maria Feldman & Amit Cohen |
| Directed by | Chris Long |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Gilad Benamram |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Running time | 44–50 minutes |
| Production company | Keshet UK |
| Original release | |
| Network | Apple TV+ |
| Release | 4 February (2022-02-04) – 18 March 2022 (2022-03-18) |
Suspicion is a Britishthriller television series based on theIsraeli seriesFalse Flag. Set inLondon andNew York City, the series premiered onApple TV+ on 4 February 2022. It received generally mixed reviews from critics. The series was cancelled after one season.
Five people – three men and two women – have their lives turned upside down after being identified byLondon police as suspects in the kidnapping and subsequent disappearance of American media mogul Katherine Newman's son Leonardo.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [1] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Persons of Interest" | Chris Long[1] | Rob Williams | February 4, 2022 (2022-02-04) | |
Leo Newman, son of communications mogul and ambassadorial nominee Katherine Newman, is kidnapped from the Park Madison Hotel inMidtown Manhattan by perpetrators wearing masks of theBritish Royal family. CCTV footage of the kidnapping is uploaded and goesviral online. FBI special agent Scott Anderson is assigned as the lead investigator, and meets with Newman. TheNYPD flags four British citizens who were in New York at the time as suspects. Three of them, bride-to-be and finance manager Natalie Thompson, dissatisfied IT technician Aadesh Chopra and Oxford University lecturer Tara McAllister, are arrested back in theUnited Kingdom and placed in the custody ofNational Crime Agency senior investigator Vanessa Okoye. Sean Tilson, a man carrying several passports, disguises himself and escapes being arrested by thePSNI after landing inBelfast from New York. | |||||
| 2 | "Room for Doubt" | Chris Long[1] | Rob Williams | February 4, 2022 (2022-02-04) | |
The three suspects stayed at the Park Madison Hotel the same time as Sean. Natalie for ahen night with her NYU student sister Monique, Aadesh to be interviewed by Cooper-Newman, and Tara begrudgingly at Cooper-Newman’s charity conference on behalf of Oxford to thank them for funding. All three deny involvement, or knowledge of Sean Tilson when questioned. Monique hides a large sum of cash and takes aburner phone she finds in Natalie’s bag. Okoye mentions Tara’s past questioning of Newman funding and Leo being admitted to Oxford. Anderson joins Oykoe and accuses Aadesh of hacking hotel CCTV, Natalie of funding the kidnapping and Tara of organising. Sean retrieves money and a handgun from his grandfather's house inBangor, clandestinely sails toMerseyside and steals a car, killing two people in the process. Without enough evidence to charge, Okoye releases the three under close surveillance. A ransom video of Leo is broadcast to theSenate Judiciary Committee, demanding Newman “tell the truth” or he will be killed. | |||||
| 3 | "Strangers" | Stefan Schwartz | Terry Cafolla | February 11, 2022 (2022-02-11) | |
Sean’s involvement in the kidnapping is released to the press by the FBI. He arrives in London, revealed to have been texting Natalie’s burner. Confronted by Monique, Natalie confesses sheembezzled over £400k from Nemus Group, a client who demanded she pay back double, with New York being the final cash drop. Monique is extracted by NCA officers before she can return the money to Sean directly. Natalie is re-arrested after she transfers funds to aCayman Islands account. Anderson tells her Cooper-Newman are majority shareholders in Nemus. Aadesh is confronted byconspiracy theorists at work and becomes alienated from his wife and in-laws, and Tara is suspended from work. Okoye has Natalie agree to meet Sean the following day to exchange the money, and Natalie declines legal representation from her solicitor fiancé. Eddie Walker, an Oxford student, is identified as a fifth suspect, having drunk near the Park Madison Hotel bar mere hours before the kidnapping. | |||||
| 4 | "The Devil You Know" | Stefan Schwartz | Megan Gallagher | February 18, 2022 (2022-02-18) | |
Eddie is also released under surveillance after denying involvement or knowing Leo. He finds Aadesh after seeing the conspiracy videos online, and suggests they locate Natalie and Tara to go public together and proclaim their innocence. At the meeting Sean tries to kill Natalie and escapes capture by NCAfirearms officers. He is stabbed while meeting a contact, Brolin, for new identity documents, who he kills. Anderson reports the failure to Newman, who decides to address the kidnappers in a public broadcast. She confesses the fundraising that secured her ambassadorial nomination failed to disclose money came from a source undereconomic sanctions. The kidnappers intercept the press conference screens, saying she still has not told the truth and demand she reveal what Eric Cresswell, a disgraced former scientist, knows. Natalie is released on bail. Tara, Natalie, Monique, Aadesh and Eddie are kidnapped by an armed rendition team, who take them to anairstrip demanding Leo’s whereabouts. They are rescued by Sean, but Monique is killed in the gunfight. | |||||
| 5 | "What Does a Kidnapper Look Like?" | Stefan Schwartz | Nick Leather | February 25, 2022 (2022-02-25) | |
Sean drives the group to a property Brolin was assigned to visit. He tells them he isn’t involved with Leo's kidnap, that they’re each other's best chance of discovering who is framing them. Sean tells Natalie he was simply hired as a collector for Nemus, unaware of their Cooper-Newman links. Tara confesses she started an anonymous campaign against Leo Newman, stopping after her daughter was briefly kidnapped as a warning. Aadesh accesses Brolin’s laptop and discovers emails with Martin Copeland, the COO of Cooper-Newman. Aadesh confesses hehacked the company to offer his services as a consultant, and found a secret email server. All appearances seem Copeland is behind the kidnap and implicated the group, possibly as revenge for Newman naming Leo not him as her successor. Sean plans to confront Copeland in New York. He allows the others to accompany him when Natalie offers the remaining money in her offshore account to finance the trip. Eddie messages someone via a secret phone. | |||||
| 6 | "Be the Gray Man" | Chris Long | Terry Cafolla | March 4, 2022 (2022-03-04) | |
The kidnappers hack every Cooper-Newman client, mounting worldwide pressure and an online campaign for her to tell the truth. Newman meets with longtime client and International Oil and Petroleum (IOP) Energy CEO Amy, where the two discuss how Cresswell’s knowledge can never become public. Monique’s body is found by Okoye and Anderson, with the scene professionally scrubbed. The group travels toLondon to change their appearances and obtain fake passports from Sean’s contact Masoud. He becomes suspicious when Eddie speaksFarsi, and convinces Tara to make the trip as an example to her daughter. Okoye reveals to Anderson that Eddie is actually an undercover NCA officer named Liam McKenna. Aadesh is identified on CCTV atStansted Airport. Deducing they will all be travelling, the FBI reluctantly allows the group to enter the US so they can be further tracked. After arriving inNew York City, Sean secretly meets with Copeland alone, and confirms things are all set. | |||||
| 7 | "Questions of Trust" | Chris Long | Nick Leather | March 11, 2022 (2022-03-11) | |
Cresswell approaches the police inGloucestershire, saying someone is trying to kill him. Aadesh overhears Eddie reporting to the NCA, but he lies and tells him he works for Newman. Owen Neilssen, Anderson’s boss, questions Newman about Copeland’s links with the UK suspects. At aBrooklyn warehouse, Sean demands Aadesh contact Copeland via the same secret server to meet them. He kills two assassins sent by Copeland, following their meeting the previous evening. After using their phone to tell Copeland that everyone including him is dead, he offers to take the group to Copeland so they can finally get answers. Sean pays someone to drive his van to the FBINew York Field Office as a distraction, allowing them to travel to the Park Madison Hotel undetected. Newman arranges an televised interview, which reveals that Cooper-Newman helped IOP bury an accurateclimate change report commissioned by Cresswell in 1995. The group kidnaps Copeland at the hotel, where he admits sending the rendition team to kill them as potential threats to the company. Sean demands his money. Before Copeland reveals the truth about Leo’s kidnapping, Natalie shoots him dead as revenge for Monique. | |||||
| 8 | "Unmasked" | Chris Long | Megan Gallagher | March 18, 2022 (2022-03-18) | |
Sean flees the hotel separate from the group. The kidnappers, still unsatisfied, broadcast footage of Leo with a countdown inTimes Square. The group are confronted by Leo and his friends at gunpoint, who orchestrated the kidnapping and #TellTheTruth campaign with Tara, who is revealed to be Cresswell’s daughter Evie. They all wanted his mother to confess her actions in the coverup, and frame Natalie, Aadesh and Sean, who the public already believe are guilty. Eddie draws a pistol and disarms Leo, shooting his computer which cuts the Times Square feed. Sean returns and injures Eddie, then takes Leo. Newman further confesses and apologises onlivestream how Cooper-Newman orchestrated adisinformation campaign to discredit Cresswell and protect their clients interests, contributing significantly to modernclimate change denial andfake news culture. Leo is “found” in a nearby basement by the police after Newman pays Sean $1 million, which he plans to use for a new identity given his professional reputation is ruined. He warns her if she double crosses him he will kill Leo for good. Natalie is arrested for killing Copeland, but Tara and Aadesh escape. Reunited with Leo, Newman indicates she knows he arranged the kidnapping. | |||||
In July 2019,Apple TV+ announced the development of an English-language version of award-winning Israeli thrillerFalse Flag, created by Maria Feldman and Amit Cohen, withKeshet International, the distribution and production arm ofKeshet Media Group, the same company behind the original Hebrew-language series.[2] In March 2020, Apple ordered an eight-part series to be produced by Keshet's British production arm, Keshet UK, and directed byChris Long, withRob Williams serving as showrunner. Both also executive produced along with Howard Burch,Avi Nir,Anna Winger, Maria Feldman, Amit Cohen and Liat Benasuly.[3] The show was cancelled by Apple TV+ in July 2023.[4]
Along with the series order in March 2020,Uma Thurman was cast to star inSuspicion, withKunal Nayyar,Noah Emmerich,Georgina Campbell,Elyes Gabel,Elizabeth Henstridge, and Angel Coulby also joining the cast.[3] In November 2020, it was reported thatTom Rhys Harries had joined the cast.[5]
As of March 2020, production had reportedly begun in theUnited Kingdom onSuspicion, but had to be suspended due theCOVID-19 pandemic.[6] In September 2020, Apple was reportedly preparing to restart filming inEngland, with filming confirmed to have started in November 2020 inBrixham.[7][8] Filming also occurred inNew York City in May 2021, with several cast members being seen on set inCentral Park,Washington Square Park, and theUpper East Side.[9] Season one concluded filming on May 18, 2021.[10]
The eight-part series premiered with two episodes being released on Apple TV+ on Friday, 4 February 2022, with the remaining six episodes airing every Friday thereafter.[11] In 2025, the series was re-released onITVX in the UK.[12]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 48% of 29 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.20/10. The website's consensus reads: "While this espionage thriller achieves a genuine atmosphere of paranoia, it is dogged by theSuspicion that star Uma Thurman is being wasted on a shallow mystery."[13]
The Hollywood Reporter's Angie Han writes, "Suspicion is broadly competent, in that the dialogue is serviceable, the performances unobjectionable (though those watching for Thurman should be warned she’s barely in it at all), the narrative easy enough to follow."[14] Barbara Ellen ofThe Observer said the drama was "undone by erratic drama and nonsensical themes".[15]The Wall Street Journal's Dorothy Rabinowitz was more complimentary, dubbing it "ambitious".[16]