Jessica Chastain's Long-Delayed Apple TV Crime Thriller Deserves To See the Light of Day
Erin Konrad's love for everything entertainment dates back to elementary school when she became obsessed with classic Hollywood musicals. When she's not catching up on all her favorite television shows, she's advising her friends and family on what they should binge watch next.
She has her Bachelor's degree in Journalism and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Creating content for Collider gives her the opportunity to combine her writing skills with her passion for television and movies. She spends her free time trying to beat her personal record of reading 137 books in a year and cuddling with her dog, Gracie.
Apple TV was originally set to premiere its crime thriller miniseries, The Savant, in September 2025, starring Jessica Chastain as Jodi Goodwin, a seemingly normal wife and mother who actually has a secret career. Jodi, based on a real person who was profiled in Cosmopolitan in 2019, infiltrates online chat forums and message boards where hate groups flourish. Her goal is to discover potential suspects who are planning attacks throughout the U.S. and prevent them from carrying out their plans. Despite having all the components of an exciting show, The Savant's road to release has been overly long.
'The Savant' Now Has a Tentative Release Date
Three days before The Savant was set to premiere on Apple TV, the streamer announced on September 23, 2025, that the show's release would be postponed. This led to speculation that, in the wake of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk's death, the streamer was pulling The Savant because of its content, which includes themes of extremist viewers and acts of violence. Chastain didn't hold back her disappointment at the time, stating in a social media post that she was "not aligned on the decision to pause the release of The Savant." She went on to cite multiple recent examples of violence, including the January 6 attack on the Capitol, school shootings, and Kirk's assassination, as reasons why The Savant's story is even more relevant than ever in our society.
Earlier this year, Apple TV had listed a summer drop for The Savant, only for there to be yet another delay, with no reason given for the continued pause. This past week, however, the streamer confirmed via Deadline that The Savant, which also stars Pablo Schreiber, Nnamdi Asomugha, Dagmara Dominczyk, and Jordana Spiro, is now tentatively scheduled for a spring 2027 release, which would still allow the series to be eligible for next year's Emmys.
'The Savant' Will Be a Relevant, Thought-Provoking Show
Chastain makes a good point in her assertion that The Savant is a more relevant series now than ever, as acts of political violence have only continued to persist in the U.S. What makes the show's initial shelving more confusing is that Apple TV doesn't seem to be censoring violence or themes of extremism in other programming. Around the same time that The Savant was set to air, a Season 5 episode of the spy thriller Slow Horses, which also streams on Apple TV, depicted a brutal mass shooting rooted in radicalized political views. Viewers witness extreme depictions of violence all the time on television, and have in many instances become so desensitized to it that it's almost more shocking when there are steps taken to minimize its exposure. The fact that The Savant is inspired by a true story makes it all the more pertinent to the current climate.
No matter what happens between now and spring 2027, The Savant deserves to be released. The series' cast and crew have already put in the work to bring the story to the screen, and have had to deal with the frustration of seeing their efforts shelved for almost two years by the show's new release window. Despite any pushback that Apple TV might receive, the show is an unflinching depiction of what's happening in today's society, and it's more important to shine a light on this type of violence than keep it buried.
The Savant will be available to stream on Apple TV in spring 2027.
The Savant
- Release Date
- September 26, 2025
- Network
- Apple TV+
- Directors
- Matthew Heineman
- Writers
- Melissa James Gibson
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The Savant
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Trinity Lee Shirley
Maeve
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Michael Patrick Thornton
Gary
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Nnamdi Asomugha
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