Anya Taylor-Joy‘s new Apple TV crime caper Lucky has critics talking — and mostly in a good way. With a 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 68 score on Metacritic, reviews are praising its thrills, twists, and star power, even if some say it doesn’t quite hit the jackpot.
The seven-episode limited series stars Taylor-Joy as Lucky Armstrong, a con artist who goes on the run after failing at a multimillion-dollar heist. Lucky is based on the New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by Marissa Stapley. The actress is also an executive producer alongside Reese Witherspoon, who chose it as one of her Book Club picks. Jonathan Tropper and Cassie Pappas are the showrunners.
Joining Taylor-Joy in the star-studded ensemble are Annette Bening as mob leader Priscilla Masterson, Clifton Collins Jr. as Harris Dutch, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Agent Billie Rand, and Timothy Olyphant as John Armstrong, Lucky’s father.
The first two episodes debuted on Wednesday, with subsequent hours streaming weekly on Apple TV until the Aug. 19 finale.
Let’s dive into the reviews for Lucky:
THE GOOD
“From thrilling start to satisfying finish, Apple TV’s seven-part miniseries proves an unqualified 2026 standout,” raves Nick Schager of The Daily Beast.
Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times remarks that one of the show’s prominent themes, the relationship between parents and children, is “handled with surprising feeling given the circumstances.”
Rebecca Nicholson of Financial Times says, “This is a zippy, pulpy and often thrilling cat-and-mouse story, with a little extra heart.”
Judy Berman of Time calls Taylor-Joy a “consummate action hero,” adding, “Tropper and Pappas put twists in all the right places, effectively controlling viewers’ access to characters’ motives, loyalties, and backstories without coming across as manipulative.”
THE MIXED
Alan Sepinwall (What’s Alan Watching?) writes, “Lucky is a show made by people with a clear affection for these kinds of stories, even if they couldn’t quite inject this one with enough originality to do more than properly showcase its actors. Fortunately, they’re very talented actors.”
Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the show a C-plus score, writing, “If a distracting flight filled with good folks is all you’re looking for, Lucky will do the trick. There’s just a better version lurking inside, one that could’ve elevated the action-chase genre instead of merely loitering there.”
THE BAD
Proving you can’t please everybody, Ed Power of the Daily Telegraph likens Lucky to a “creaky Tarantino knock-off.” He notes, “You can appreciate that [Taylor-Joy] might wish to ditch the quirky roles that made her reputation and go mainstream. But Lucky’s joyless capering is an awkward fit — a roll of the dice that ends badly for all involved.”
Finally, Michael Savio of Slant Magazine notes how the characters all “feel like predigested tropes.” As for the main character, “Tropper never fleshes out Lucky’s desires beyond mere survival … [she lacks] a level of interior depth.”
