Plot: Set against the backdrop of New York City’s high-pressure nightlife scene, Black Rabbit centers on two brothers who are pushed to the brink by their duty to family and their pursuit of success. Jake Friedkin is the charismatic owner of Black Rabbit, a restaurant and VIP lounge, poised to become the hottest spot in New York. But when his brother, Vince, returns to the business unexpectedly, trouble soon follows; opening the door to old traumas and new dangers that threaten to bring down everything they’ve built.
Review: When Ozark debuted on Netflix, the series was lauded as a successor to Breaking Bad and boasted a surprising dramatic turn from Jason Bateman, who also directed multiple episodes. The new series Black Rabbit brings Bateman’s keen directorial style to a tale centered on a different family dynamic as it follows brothers Jake (Jude Law) and Vince (Jason Bateman) as their own financial struggles converge upon the titular restaurant they both helped create. Creators Zach Baylin and Kate Susman have crafted an intricate drama about the burden of family within the high stakes of New York City entrepreneurship. A blend of the culinary intensity of The Bear with the crime conceits of Ozark, Black Rabbit is a fascinating character drama that showcases two unique actors delivering characters distinct from anything they have played before. The dichotomy of Law and Bateman in this series makes for an intensely watchable series that starts simmering from the first episode and keeps the heat steady for the entire series run.
A limited series set over eight episodes, the first two of which premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, Black Rabbit opens with a robbery that goes bad at the Black Rabbit restaurant, with an exclusive party run by owner Jake Friedken. As the party devolves into violence, the series flashes back a month to chronicle how things went wrong. Vince, a drug addict and hustler, is trying to make a deal on the West Coast to survive another day, while his brother Jake is struggling from one day to the next as his restaurant prepares for a big break visit from a New York Times critic. The brothers, former bandmates whose fame quickly fizzled, have debts that must be repaid. Vince owes a significant sum to bookies Junior (Forrest Weber) and Babbitt (Chris Coy), as well as Junior’s father, Joe Mancuso (Troy Kotsur), who embroils Jake as well. Jake is trying to open a second restaurant without being indebted to co-owner Wes (Sope Dirisu), but needs an influx of capital to make it happen. As the brothers reconnect, their bond often conflicts with what they owe, as they double-cross those around them and massage the truth to avoid owning up to their mistakes.
The series has a lot of elements thrown together that would have crumbled with different actors in the leads. Jason Bateman gets to employ his sardonic wit and snappy one-liners that have been his trademark for years. In contrast, Jude Law gets to portray Jake as a former celebrity musician who thirsts for success and fame despite scrambling to keep up appearances. Both brothers have the same issue with honesty and living within their means, and they hold each other accountable for it. Law and Bateman have a realistic sibling chemistry that could have worked as well had they been in reversed roles. However, Bateman’s Vince is a great older brother who needs to be supported by his younger brother, despite Jake desperately needing the sage wisdom of an elder sibling. Bateman and Law are fantastic whenever they share the screen, but they make great connections with the ensemble cast. Each character has a growing emotional and financial debt that climbs through each chapter towards the inevitable and tragic conclusion of the story. I will leave you to discover whether Black Rabbit actually gets there when you watch the series.
The series is focused on both Jake and Vince. Still, there are several intriguing supporting characters including Jake’s ex-wife Val (Dagmara Dominczyk), bartender Anna (Abbey Lee), fixer Campbell (Morgan Spector), Vince’s daughter Gen (Odessa Young), chefs Roxie (Amaka Okafor) and Tony (Robin de Jesus), detective Ellen Seung (Hetienne Park), and artist Jules Zablonsky (John Ales). Everyone gets moments with each other while interacting with Jake and Vince. There are also minor celebrity cameos from jeweler Ben Baller and singer Raye. Still, the series keeps the story grounded and focused on the day-to-day lives of those connected to the Friedken siblings, for better or worse. The story is intriguing when the series focuses on the operation of Black Rabbit and the brothers trying to find ways to fix their problems or tide themselves over. Still, it can sometimes get bogged down in subplots that pad the main narrative. I still found these tangents intriguing, even if they made me want to spend more time with the supporting players than the limited series has space for.
Created by Zach Baylin and Kate Susman, who have worked together as writer and producer, respectively, on the 2024 crime drama The Order, the duo scripted four of the eight episodes of Black Rabbit, with Andrew Hinderaker, Sarah Gubbins, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, and Carlos Rios credited on the other four. The first two episodes are directed by Jason Bateman, who continues to show his prowess as a director with a similar style he employed on the Netflix series Ozark and the HBO adaptation of Stephen King’s The Outsider. Bateman is joined by his Ozark co-star Laura Linney, who helmed the third and fourth episodes, Ben Semanoff (Ozark, Yellowjackets, Tulsa King) on episodes five and six, and The Order director Justin Kurzel helmed the final two episodes. With a great score by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans, Black Rabbit keeps the tension consistent as an undercurrent below the dramatic scenes of characters arguing. The series is punctuated by some violent and bloody moments. Still, it is not until the final episodes directed by Justin Kurzel that the story hits the height of its intensity, boasting one of the most emotionally powerful moments in the entire series.
Like many limited series, Black Rabbit feels like it could have been slimmed down to a feature film. We would have lost some of the more decisive developmental moments the series offers to help us forge a love/hate relationship with Vince and Jake. Still, Jude Law and Jason Bateman are up to the task of showing the dedication of familial connection and how we will defend our closest relatives even when it could be to our own detriment. The moment Jude Law’s Jake says, “You are not a bad person, and I am not leaving you, ” I deeply felt the connection at the core of Black Rabbit. Black Rabbit is a beautifully filmed story that evokes the nightlife of New York City and the pulsing intensity of having a target on your back. Led by two outstanding performances from Jude Law and Jason Bateman, Black Rabbit is an indie thriller expanded to a mini-series length, and it will be a show you will binge without pausing until you get to the very end.
Black Rabbit premieres on September 18th on Netflix.
