Rashida Jones’ Bold New Show: Can an AI Robot Cure Our Loneliness?
Loneliness is a killer in Sunny, a 10-episode Apple TV+ series premiering July 10, in which the cure for alienation and unhappiness turns out to be a double-edged sword. An adaptation of Colin O'Sullivan’s novel The Dark Manual, Katie Robbins’ half-hour dramedy is a sci-fi mystery about the lengths people go to be alone and the devices they create to alleviate that condition. Though it doesn’t always hold together, its uniquely askew tone and charismatic AI title character ultimately make it a puzzle worth piecing together.
Sunny introduces us to Suzie (Rashida Jones) in the throes of the worst day of her life. At a table beside her mother-in-law Noriko (Judy Ongg), she’s briefed by a Japanese airline official about the plane crash that has taken the life of her husband Masa (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and son Zen. An American expat who lives in Kyoto with her family, Suzie understands this woman because of an earpiece (connected wirelessly to a handheld device) that translates her comments into English. Behind them, robots move to and fro, performing menial duties as Suzie is questioned about her spouse, who worked at a company called ImaTech as a designer of high-tech consumer refrigerators.
Back at their hotel, Suzie is convinced by Noriko to attend a ceremony where survivors are supposed to ease their grief by crying—a process that involves calling their deceased loved ones’ cellphones to hear their voicemail messages (which will spark waterworks). Strangely, Masa’s phone rings off the hook, suggesting to Noriko that perhaps his body hasn’t been found because he’s not dead.