Did you know that before directing Whiplash, La La Land, and First Man, three of the finest films of the 2010s, Damien Chazelle co-wrote The Last Exorcism Part II, the heinous Eli Roth-produced sequel to The Last Exorcism (a misleading title, imo)? There’s a message in there about not letting your past mistakes define you. Or something! Chazelle has certainly moved on from his days as a credited screenwriter for terrible horror movies — he’s now making prestige Netflix series with Andre Holland.
Described as a “vibrant musical drama,” The Eddy follows Elliot Udo (Holland), a “once celebrated musician from New York, [who’s now] running a small Jazz club called The Eddy in a multicultural neighborhood in modern-day Paris. He is struggling to keep the club open, manage the house band and deal with his past. When he finds out that his partner is involved in questionable business practices things start to spin out of control,” according to the official plot synopsis. The series is only eight episodes long, so it’s like FX’s Devs from fellow acclaimed filmmaker Alex Garland, or Nicolas Winding Refn’s Too Old to Die Young for Amazon, but with more jazz. My man loves his jazz.
The Eddy — which also stars Joanna Kulig (who was so good in Cold War) as Elliot’s on-again, off-again girlfriend, alongside Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give) and Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) — premieres on Netflix on May 8.