Sunny, Apple TV+ review — odd-couple dramedy where one half is a robot

If you were to ask ChatGPT to come up with the quintessential Apple TV+ show, it might propose something like Sunny. A 10-part sci-fi dramedy, it combines the offbeat retro-futurism of Severance and Hello Tomorrow!, the east Asian backdrop of Pachinko and Drops of God, the underworld intrigue of Sugar and the goofiness of Ted Lasso — even the sumptuous interiors of the docuseries Home.

But if AI isn’t behind the show, it is very much at the front and centre of this curious tale about a techphobic, sorrow-stricken woman and her cheery android companion.

The former is Suzie (Rashida Jones), an American expat in Japan, who we first meet in the days after the disappearance of her husband and young son in a plane disaster. Devastated, and also alienated by endless bureaucracy and mourning rituals, she retreats to her enviable Kyoto abode, intending to drink the days away in solitude — only to find someone waiting for her. Or rather, something. 

Enter Sunny: an advanced yet disarmingly ungainly robot, a kind of emoticon-faced diving helmet on wheels created by her husband, Masa (Hidetoshi Nishijima), whom Suzie hitherto believed to be a refrigerator technician. Suspicious of this affable machine and suddenly doubtful of everything Masa ever told her, she searches for answers at the company where he worked. What she finds is an abandoned, blood-spattered lab, the aftermath of a violent incident that the show returns to teasingly.

From here the series spins an engaging conspiracy yarn in which Big Tech, underground coder cults and formidable Yakuza gangsters are all apparently implicated. But as it pieces together these disparate parts, the show raises questions of a more metaphysical nature — the mystery of consciousness, the unknowability of other minds. Sunny (voiced by Joanna Sotomura), may be a work of AI, but her sense of self and her emotions are genuine, or at least seem to be. Like Suzie, we shed our scepticism as she joins a quest for closure that is finely pitched between charming odd-couple comedy and contemplative drama.

Where the show could have easily descended into gimmickry or portentous commentary about our relationship with technology, series creator Katie Robbins succeeds in keeping things thoughtful, funny and unpredictable. It shifts from the main plot to flashbacks that flesh out Suzie and Masa’s marriage; from scenes in robot fight clubs and techno sex shops to those depicting the practice of hikikomori (extreme social withdrawal), all without becoming unfocused and inconsistent.

This is complemented by stylish execution and a meticulous attention to detail that brings this semi-futuristic world to life, while also putting Japanese culture and tradition at the fore. In the wasteland of summer TV schedules, Sunny is a bright spot worth seeking out. 

★★★★☆

First two episodes on Apple TV+ from July 10; new episodes weekly