The screen adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s “Apples Never Fall” weaves a tapestry of familial dysfunction, lingering mysteries, and the ghostly echoes of a vanished mother. Annette Bening anchors the series as Joy Delaney, the seemingly rock-solid matriarch of a tennis-obsessed family whose disappearance shatters their illusions, forcing them to confront a lifetime of simmering resentments.
The Delaneys, once a force on the doubles court, now find themselves playing a different kind of match, one charged with suspicion and long-held grudges. Joy and Stan (an impeccably unlikable Sam Neill) raised four children, each battling the legacy of dashed tennis dreams and lingering doubts about their own place in the world. When Joy vanishes without a trace, the siblings must grapple not only with her absence but also with the uneasy realization that they might not have known their mother at all.
Joy Delaney is the story’s haunting specter. Though physically absent for much of the series, her presence is inescapable. We see her reflected in the eyes of her children – Amy, the eldest, clinging to nebulous spirituality to mask her insecurity; Connor, burdened with quiet desperation; Logan, the golden child whose shine has faded; and finally, baby of the family, Chelsea, seemingly the most grounded but not immune to the family’s unraveling. Joy is also poignantly embodied in her unlikely friendship with Savannah (Georgia Flood), a young woman with a troubled past whom Joy takes in as a live-in help. Their bond, forged in shared heartache, reveals Joy’s desperate and unmet need for a genuine confidante.
The stark fact that none of her children picked up their mother’s phone calls on the day she disappeared underscores a painful truth: Joy’s silent struggle, her relentless prioritizing of her family’s needs over her own, became a kind of invisible wallpaper.
“Apples Never Fall” unfurls two concurrent tragedies vying for our attention. The first, of course, is the central mystery of Joy’s disappearance. Did she meet a violent end, or did she orchestrate her own vanishing act? The twists and turns keep viewers hooked, right up until the final episode. But interwoven into this whodunit is a far more insidious tragedy – the systematic undervaluing of women and their silent sacrifices. Joy’s life was a marathon of invisible labor, both on the court and within her family. Like countless women, the true breadth of her contributions escapes notice until it’s almost too late.
The performances from the ensemble cast are what elevate the series, imbuing it with emotional depth. Allison Brie brings a heartbreaking mix of fragility and misplaced certainty to Amy. Sam Neil’s Stan is a masterclass in brittle masculinity teetering on the edge of vulnerability. And Georgia Flood’s Savannah is both subtly manipulative and achingly genuine.
Yet, “Apples Never Fall” isn’t without its flaws. It lacks a truly compelling narrative voice, leaving it at times feeling adrift without an obvious emotional anchor. Some characters, primarily the adult Delaney children, fall prey to stereotypical writing, bordering on caricature and limiting their impact. And while the pacing is mostly engaging, the resolution of the central mystery feels somewhat rushed, dampening its ultimate impact.
However, even with these missteps, “Apples Never Fall” reminds us in no uncertain terms of a truth Moriarty often dissects in her writing: we consistently underestimate and undervalue the women in our lives. Joy is the unseen glue, the unspoken sacrifices, and the silent strength that holds everything together until it all falls apart. It’s Annette Benning’s portrayal that lingers after the final credits roll, a quiet indictment of our collective tendency to take for granted the ‘rocks’ before they crumble beneath our feet.
Apples Never Fall is now streaming on OSN+