The story of Abraham Lincoln and, especially, his assassination has never been so relevant 159 years later, perhaps that’s why Apple TV decided to adapt the best-selling Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer for the platform.

The seven-episode series is about the plot behind the assassination of the 16th American president, five days after he managed to end the American Civil War and establish the Abolition of slavery throughout the country. At a thriller pace, mixing fiction and reality, it immediately involves us with the investigations that took 12 days until the murderer, John Wilkes Booth (Anthony Boyle) was arrested. We couldn’t imagine how much of an adventure it was.

For non-Americans, it is worth remembering that President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth, in a protest against the end of the Civil War, with the defeat of the South. However, writer James L. Swanson suggests that the plot that cost his life from the President was much more articulate than an outburst from a conservative sympathizer.

The series, signed by showrunner Monica Beletsky, is full of suspense that helps those unfamiliar with all the people involved in the drama. With back and forth, she aligns all the conspiratorial layers in a preview of forensic work. Booth (Anthony Boyle), saw himself as a symbol of the failed Confederacy, but the committed Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies), Secretary of War and personal friend of Lincoln wanted more than to hang him, his mission was to identify and expose everyone involved.

On the same night that Lincoln was killed, the conspirators who worked with Booth must have killed Vice President Andrew Johnson (Glenn Morshower) and Lincoln’s Secretary of State, William H. Seward (Larry Pine). They failed, as we know. The series tries to show us why. In this way, Manhunt focuses on the investigative work of Stanton and his team and thus draws the frightening parallel that not only the United States still lives with today, but the world as well.

Like Lincoln, especially after Daniel Day-Lewis, it takes us a while to take Hamish Linklater seriously. On the other hand, Tobias Menzies holds the lead with conviction. Anthony Boyle, who has been gaining space in praised productions, does what he can as the narcissistic and racist Booth.

What is interesting is to remember that Democracy was not a unanimous or easy process to establish and the consequences are still felt more than a century later. Lincoln’s death, premature for the entire Reconstruction process, was felt. With all the narrative flaws, it still seems like it will hit the ground running. Will this be another Apple TV Plus hit?

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