Palmer

Cheryl Guerriero wrote the screenplay Fisher Stevens directed on spec, starting from men she knew who went to prison and started over. It made the Black List in 2016 and went into production only in 2019. Sam came from elsewhere: Guerriero saw a boy playing with Barbies at Venice Beach. She did not want the character labelled. Asked how he saw Sam, Stevens said they do not know whether he is this or that; she took that as the right answer and left the reading to viewers. A line she gave the teacher, that Sam knows exactly who he is and everyone else has the problem, was cut. Timberlake asked for a chemistry read with at least 6 children; when Ryder Allen walked in the choice was unanimous. Shooting ran in New Orleans from 9 November to 13 December 2019. Apple TV+ bought it in July 2020 and released it digitally on its service on 29 January 2021. Benjamin Lee in the Guardian found it content to play it safe: Palmer’s road to redemption is slotting himself into a ready made nuclear family. A good fit if you want a story that declines to say what a child is and leaves that to you. Not for anyone unwilling to see Sam’s bullying, or the violence at home, on screen.