Apple TV+ is on a roll!
From the success of Severance to the debut of Blitz, Apple TV+ has emerged as a leader within television and film. Now, they’re looking to expand their empire to include Prime Target, a new thriller starring SAG Award winner Leo Woodall. The time around, Woodall plays Edward Brooks, a brilliant mathematician who may know just a few more things than the federal government would like and instantly become its number one target. Will he meet his demise at the hands of elites looking to protect their secrets or will he emerge as a groundbreaking leader in mathematics?
The first three episodes of the Woodall-led thriller are available via Apple TV+. To learn a little bit more before pressing play, check out what everyone’s saying about Prime Target.
The Basics
Where To Watch: $9.99 per month
Cast: Leo Woodall, Fra Fee, Quintessa Swindell, Sidse Babett Knudsen
Synopsis: “The story follows Edward Brooks (Leo Woodall), a socially awkward yet brilliant postgraduate mathematician at Cambridge University, as he embarks on a personal mission to uncover hidden patterns in prime numbers.”
Critics’ Chatter
“It’s a little bit Good Will Hunting (though instead of a charming janitor we are asked to root for a young man who appears to have read Applied Morosity for his undergrad degree), a little bit The Bourne Identity, with more than a dash of A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code thrown in. Or, if you prefer to keep your references televisual, it is a little bit The Mentalist, Bones, Monk and many, many more. Which is to say it is derivative, preposterous, utterly unbelievable and great fun. It’s got confidence and style and is here to deliver escapism to the power of pi cubed, or something, and it does. Prime ridiculous entertainment.”
–Lucy Mangan, The Guardian | Read The Full Review Here
“Prime Target begins with a fresh and intriguing premise, combining the world of mathematics with high-stakes espionage in a math prodigy’s search for the numerical pattern that could unlock every computer system in the world. However, as the series unfolds, its promise is undermined by sluggish pacing, forced drama, and inconsistent character arcs. While the show offers moments of brilliance, especially in its early episodes, it ultimately fails to deliver on the grand potential of its ideas, leaving a story that feels more like a tantalizingly unsolved equation than a world-changing mathematical breakthrough.”
–Robert Anderson, IGN | Read The Full Review Here
“The new conspiracy thriller Prime Target gets to the right answer, I suppose, in that it looks expensive (there’s that Apple TV+ money), serves up basically competent if unmemorable action and raises worthwhile if not exactly novel debates. But it does not show the math, serving two-dimensional pawns instead of three-dimensional characters and lofty-sounding speeches instead of nuanced dialogue — and, as a result, fails to add up to much at all.”
–Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter | Read The Full Review Here
Timeline Talk
all prime target reviews are terrible fight back!! pic.twitter.com/MbIfrIIfEm
— thomas (@fnwoodall) January 22, 2025
PRIME TARGET is tedious and devoid of any soul. what might suffice as a brisk film is instead bloated into an episodic snooze fest, featuring one of the least captivating lead performances i’ve ever seen on screen. my review for @ebertvoices: https://t.co/6ns6GtjtFh
— kaiya (@kaiyashunyata) January 22, 2025
No idea about the rest of the show but the opening scene of new Apple thriller Prime Target is one of the nastiest, emotionally exploitative bits of TV I can recall.
— Tim Clark (@timothydclark) January 22, 2025
